King Kong: The Eighth Wonder of the World
by Imaginative-Believer
Summary: An uncharted island, Skull Island, is ruled by a fearsome, gigantic ape known as "King Kong." Everyone sees Kong as a monstrous, disturbing brute. The natives periodically offer sacrifices to appease him. But what if there is more to Kong than meets the eye when a beautiful blonde girl from a group of foreigners is sacrificed to him?
1. Prologue

What if not every island on Earth was geographically located? What if there is one island that is exotic but deadly? What if it was worth a fortune, but led to ruin? What if it was a place that most people would never go… for good reason?

Desolate in the center of the Indian Ocean, way west of Sumatra, surrounded by jagged rocks and covered in thick fog… is the mysterious Skull Island. A place where myth and science meet. Not too far from shore is the natives, who have a massive wall built. A wall at least 200 feet high, built so long ago that no one knew who made it. Strong today as it was ages ago.

Why did they build the wall, you may ask? Beyond the wall is a deep dark jungle. Many dangers lurking in that jungle. The philosophy of Skull Island beasts is seemingly "eat or be eaten." Only the strong survive. The strongest of them all is a lone creature feared by the natives. He is said to be 50 feet tall, neither beast nor man, but monstrous in nature. Not even the largest predators can kill him. The natives periodically sacrifice members of their own kin to appease him. The smallest critters run and hide at the very sight of him.

His head is mountainous. His eyes are like flaming fire. His nose is flat with nostrils of perpetual flare. His ears are big enough to hear the cries of the natives from afar. His yellowish fangs shame that of a vampire's. His body has the muscles of a god. His fingernails are like giant daggers that tear through the strongest hide. His skin is an eerie brownish gray with a dark brown fur coat. He bears the blood red scars of an isolated, violent past. He is presumed to be the last of his kind. To declare him "king of the jungle" would be an understatement. He is a lethal force of nature and the de facto ruler of Skull Island. They call him… KING KONG.


	2. A Native's Lament

On the shore of Skull Island stood a man of dark skin. Faraji was his name. Around 6'5 feet tall, packed with muscle, black dreadlocks running down his broad back, and a short chin beard to signify his masculinity, any foreigner would think he was the mightiest hunter of his tribe. As strong as he was on the outside, he was emotionally weakened on the inside. There was something weighing on his huge heart. Something about the dangers of Skull Island. The ways of his people. His bare feet were planted on the shallow sand as he stood under a cloudy sky with a lament ready to be released from his tongue.

"Why?" Faraji asked himself. "Why does Kong require our blood? Why do members of our kin have to be offered to him? Why can't we be content and live peacefully behind the wall that separates us from that monstrous ape?"

Mournful memories haunted this man's mind after witnessing the most beautiful village girl be sacrificed to Kong. Husna was her name. Her smooth dark skin was as touchable clay. Her long black hair was like a waterfall flowing down her back. Her seductive brown eyes would have allured any man to kiss her luscious pink lips. Her slender, curvaceous figure was more arousing than that of six concubines. To the shock of many, Faraji's father, the chief, decided that she would satisfy the ravenous desires of Kong. But it was not Husna that Faraji grieved over. For her sacrifice, had only reminded him of a foreign family that he once knew.

"O Worthingtons, you all were the last to be sacrificed before Husna," Faraji bemoaned as he smote a hand upon his breast. "Why would my father do this to a family? A Father? A Mother? A Daughter and two Sons? This is beyond my comprehension."

The Worthington family, of British descent, had gotten shipwrecked on Skull Island five years prior. Faraji, along with the other Skull Island natives, would not have taken kindly to their presence on the island. It was their kindness that taught him to see past the biases of his people. Shortly after the Worthingtons' inadvertent arrival to Skull Island, Faraji had gotten himself tangled in vines while trying to catch the Giant Gliding Lizard for supper. With the use of a machete, Mr. Worthington freed Faraji. With her motherly nurturing nature, Mrs. Worthington tended to his bruises from the compression of the vines. The children, Victoria 9 at the time, Timothy 7, and Frederick 5, had their innocent curiosities of the native, but were unable to speak with him at first because they lacked the fluency of his language.

Faraji helped the Worthingtons build their own cabin in a quiet area, away from the village where he thought they would be safe from the wrath of his kin members and the more ferocious Skull Island beasts. In turn, the mother and father taught him English. For five years, Faraji secretly bonded with the family and provided them whatever they needed. Back and forth from his own village he went, fulfilling his necessary duties as the chief's son during the day and bonding with the Worthingtons at night. He hunted with Mr. Worthington, cooked with Mrs. Worthington, and told Skull Island stories to the children.

For five peaceful years, Faraji thought he could keep the Worthingtons safe… until his fellow villagers discovered them. Their cabin was destroyed, and each one of them was forcefully captured. Faraji tried to stop it, but was knocked out cold. With a demand from the Skull Island chief to either leave the island or be sacrificed to Kong, and Faraji being forced to act as a mediator, the Worthingtons sadly admitted there was nowhere else for them to go. Within the course of five days, youngest to oldest, each family member was sacrificed to Kong and killed by the monster. Poor Faraji could do nothing about it, for he was locked inside a hut to be kept from interfering. He did not even get to say goodbye to them. He could not even bear the thought of seeing any of the Worthingtons come face to face with the titanic king of Skull Island. 144 hours he spent in the cabin, weeping and gnashing his teeth as if he were in the pits of Hell. His pain was unbearable. He could not even fathom the terror that the Worthingtons must have felt, being sacrificed to a brutish behemoth like Kong.

A tear slid down Faraji's cheek, and he shakily murmured, "O Skull Island, your people are corrupt. Your men and beasts have shed innocent blood. Skeletons of the unjustly killed decay. Who would come to a place like this?"


	3. A Leading Lady

As Faraji asked, who would travel to such a horrid place like Skull Island? Someone who is desperate to make a fortune. Someone who shoots films in exotic places. Carl Denham is his name. The map of Skull Island had gotten into his chubby hands in early 1933, and thus examined under his glassed eyes, through the skipper of a Norwegian barque. With rumors of prehistoric life and a gigantic ape named Kong roaming on Skull Island, Mr. Denham was determined to shoot the perfect film that nobody would ever forget.

There was just one problem. Something that Carl's film company had requested for greater ratings. A leading lady. Thus, Carl and his assistant, Halden Hopper, wandered the New York City streets on a late evening in search a woman who would fill that role. Just two men in dark brown trench coats and dark gray Portis hats on a wild goose chase for an actress. Carl Denham, being the shorter and stockier one, had the temper to go with it in his frustration of not being able to find the right gal for his film. Halden Hopper, being the tall and lanky one, seemed to have patience to the high heavens as he desperately tried to encourage his director.

"Screw it, Halden!" Carl snapped in frustration. "We've spent three hours searching for an actress and no luck! Who gives a crack about leading ladies anyway?"

"Calm down, Carl, the ship leaves tomorrow night, we still have PLENTY of time," Halden assured Carl. "With the great depression going on, we have PLENTY of actresses out of work in this city. In fact, I showed you lots of them walking around."

"Yeah, and all of them suck," Carl bemoaned.

"What about Sylvia Cartwright?" Halden asked. "She's been in theatre adaptations of Dracula and Frankenstein, she'd be PERFECT for Skull Island."

"She's a total diva," Carl replied.

"Okay, how about Marie Baker?" Halden proposed. "She was in a Great Gatsby play."

"She's WAY too bland," Carl complained.

"Donna Wells perhaps?" Halden questioned.

"Don't even get me started on her!" Carl rebuffed.

Halden sighed in frustration, feeling like his director could never be satisfied with any leading lady. Then something caught his eye. Some-ONE for that matter. Sitting on a bench on the opposite sidewalk from Carl and Halden was a woman of curly blonde hair, just below shoulder length, in a light brown trench coat. She appeared very sorrowful and down on her luck. Even from afar, Halden knew who it was.

"Great Scott, is that Ann Darrow?!" Halden exclaimed.

"Halden, shush! We're in the streets of New York!" Carl hissed.

"No, for real, that's Ann Darrow," Halden whispered.

With his huge hand, Halden whipped a folded yellow paper out of his pocket. As he unfolded the paper, he revealed a professional illustration of a beautiful woman with the same curly blonde hair as the one he saw. Her face was angelic with fair pale skin, sky blue eyes like diamonds and red lips that shamed the rose. She wore a red dress that complemented her slender curves as she posed, one hand to her hip and the back wrist of her other hand to the forehead. Just above this lovely image, written in thick white letters, was "Miss Ann Darrow." Beside the woman in the picture, written in black letters, was "one of the hottest vaudeville performers, allures the audience with beauty and charm, dances with style and grace, tames the toughest tough guys, and so much more." Halden was swoon by the picture to the point where he forgot about his director.

"Give me that!" Carl demanded, snatching the paper from Halden. Mr. Denham examined the paper, nodded, and said to Halden, "Halden, why didn't you say anything about Miss Darrow?"

"I wasn't sure what you'd think of her 'cause she's a vaudeville actress," Halden explained.

"Are you kidding? Ann Darrow is one of my favorites!" Carl declared. He then asked his assistant, "But are you sure that woman over there is her?"

"Affirmative," Halden answered confidently. "I know an actress when I see one Mr. Denham. Let's go over and meet her."

"Well, there are tons of blonde ladies running around in this city, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check and see if this one is indeed Miss Darrow," Carl said.

"Alright, let's go!" Halden beamed, running into the street.

"Halden, wait for me!" Carl called after his assistant. He hastily looked both ways and then began to follow Halden across the street.

Halden clumsily made his way through the street as cars abruptly stopped to avoid hitting him. HONK! HONK! HONK! Many honked at the lanky man in frustration. Carl sighed under his breath, in embarrassment of his assistant's clumsy antics, as he raised hands in front of cars in the road while passing through.

"Miss Darrow!" Halden shouted once he made it across. Ann Darrow lifted her head to see Halden as he tripped over the curb of the sidewalk and fell face down. "WOAH! OOF!"

"My goodness, are you okay, sir?!" Ann gasped.

"Pardon the clumsiness of my assistant," Carl said irritably once he made it over to Ann and Halden's side of the road.

As Ann stood up, Carl observed her blue eyes, red lips, pale skin, and shapely figure under her trench coat. He then glanced down at the paper he snatched from Halden, looked back up and recognized her for who she really was. She wasn't just any ordinary blonde girl in New York City. It was, indeed, the lovely Miss Ann Darrow. The one Halden had recognized.

"Well I'll be, you ARE Ann Darrow," Carl said with a smile.

"Oh, is that one of my posters you're holding?" Ann asked, weirded out.

"Actually, that poster is mine," Halden interjected, standing up and brushing his garments. "I was the one who recognized you from the other side of the road."

"Halden!" Carl snapped, embarrassed.

"Halden Hopper, pleased to meet you Miss Darrow," Halden introduced himself. He extended a hand to Ann and they shook.

"And I'm" – Carl began.

"Carl Denham," Ann interrupted. "You're the one who shoots films in jungles, savannahs, and all sorts of exotic places."

"Yes indeed, such a pleasure to meet you, Miss Darrow," Carl said warmly as he shook a hand with Ann.

"Can I have my paper back, Mr. Denham?" Halden asked.

Without saying a word, Carl handed the Ann Darrow poster back to Halden. The eyes of the real Ann Darrow fell with sadness and she let out a sigh. Carl and Halden had seen her look sorrowful from the other side of the street, but they had yet to find out what bothered her.

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" Halden asked with concern.

"I'm afraid not," Ann morosely replied. "My vaudeville theatre was just recently shut down due to the Great Depression. I'm out of work now."

"Well Miss Darrow, you are a wonderful actress," Halden complimented her. "Not to mention very beautiful as well."

"Aw, thank you Halden," Ann said softly, touching his cheek.

"And so, we were wondering, _I_ was wondering, if you'd like to be the leading lady of my next film," Carl added.

"Next film?" Ann questioned.

Carl looked at Halden and said, "Halden, why don't we take Ann out to dinner and discuss all the details with her."

 _(Several Minutes Later at an Italian Restaurant)_

"Here you are a-my friends, I hope-a you enjoy your meal," the waiter beamed as he left spaghetti and meatballs for Ann, lasagna for Halden, and Stromboli for Carl. The waiter was a merry fellow with a jolly stature, balding head, olive skin and a handle bar mustache.

"I really like that guy," Halden commented as the waiter walked away. "Seems real nice."

"Yes, Italians are wonderful Halden, now let's get down to business," Carl replied.

As Ann and Halden began eating, Carl told Ann, "So Ann, I am shooting my next film in uh… uh… Indonesia."

"But Carl, you said" – Halden began with his mouth full.

"Halden!" Carl hissed. He then silenced his assistant with a frown and raised eyebrows.

After swallowing her first mouthful of food, Ann asked, "So what am I going to be doing in a film in Indonesia?"

While Ann was speaking, Carl ripped off a piece of his Stromboli with a chubby hand and stuffed it in his mouth. He would have answered, right when he finished chewing and swallowing, had not Halden spoke up. Ripping the Ann Darrow poster out of his pocket, Halden enthusiastically said, "Well, as we said earlier, we want you to be our leading lady."

"Yes, I remember," Ann replied in an awkward tone. Smiling, she said, "Thanks Halden."

"You're PERFECT," Halden beamed. He then read the following words from his paper, "One of the hottest vaudeville performers, allures the audience with beauty and charm, dances with style and grace, tames the toughest tough guys, and so much more."

"Halden," Carl attempted to stop his assistant from rolling his mouth.

"You're a fantastic fit for our adventure film," Halden cooed. "You've got the moves, and you're one of the most gorgeous gals I've ever seen."

"Halden," Carl moaned, face in his hands. Poor Ann looked so weirded out.

"And might I say, you've got AMAZING curves," Halden commented.

"HALDEN!" Carl snapped, slamming the table. The entire restaurant fell silent.

"I-uh, I think I'd better leave," Ann uncomfortably said, standing up.

"Ann please," Carl begged as he stood up in front of her.

"Mr. Denham, this situation has gotten painfully awkward," Ann complained. "You make a quality offer, but I don't think I want to be around a director's assistant who acts almost as if he is looking for a prostitute. I'm not in the habit of accepting charity offers from strangers anyway."

"Oh, Miss Darrow, never mind Halden, he's just an idiot," Carl soothed. "He's got a knack for saying outlandish things without thinking. He doesn't mean any harm. There will be NO funny business on the voyage, I assure you. I PROMISE you. Please sit down."

Ann and Carl sat back down, and with his hands together, Carl continued, "Now, imagine a handsome explorer heading out to the jungles of Indonesia. On board ship, he meets a mysterious girl. She's fragile, taunted, but can't escape the feeling that forces beyond her control and compelling her down a road from which she cannot draw back. It's as if her whole life has been a prelude to this moment; this fateful meaning that changes everything. And sure enough, against her better judgment…"

"She falls in love," Ann interjected.

"Yes," Carl affirmed, nodding his head.

Ann looked down sorrowfully, sighed, and said, "But she doesn't trust it. As a matter of fact, she's not even sure if she believes in love."

"Uh, really?" Carl asked, perplexed.

"If she loves someone, she knows it's doomed," Ann melancholily answered.

"Why is that?" Carl questioned her.

"Because good things never last Mr. Denham," Ann told the film director.

Carl paused, and then said, "So you're interested? Good. That settles it. Now I don't want to rush you, but we are under some time pressure. Our ship leaves tomorrow night."

"Well I really" – Ann began.

"Ann, I'm telling you, you're perfect," Carl interrupted. "Look at you. You're the saddest girl I've ever met. You're going to make them weep, ma'am. You're going to break their hearts."

"See that's why you're wrong Mr. Denham, I charm people, that's what I do," Ann argued. She then stood up and said, "I'm sorry. I don't know if this kind of movie would be best suited for me. It was nice meeting you, Carl, Halden. Best of luck with your picture."

As Ann walked off to get her coat, Carl and Halden followed in desperation. Halden was the first of the two men to speak, "Ann, I know you're upset about losing your job in vaudeville, but come on, you've got another EXCELLENT opportunity."

"Halden, let me handle this," Carl demanded. He then tried to reason with Ann, saying, "Miss Darrow, please, I'm offering you money, the adventure of a lifetime and a long sea voyage aboard the S.S. Venture."

"S.S. Venture did you say?" an Italian voice interjected. Ann, Carl, and Halden turned around to see their waiter standing there with a curious expression on his face. He then went on to say, "Why, a-my brother is the cook on that ship. Gustavo Moracchioli is his name."

"Gustavo Moracchioli?" Ann inquired, eyes lit up. "Oh my word, I know him. He was a very close friend of my father's when I was a little girl. He cooked at all our parties."

"Yes-a, Gustavo's a good man, isn't he?" the waiter asked, smiling.

"Oh yes, my family and I loved him," Ann gleefully replied. "I haven't seen him in years."

"And-a Miss Darrow, I remember the first mate Jack Driscoll saying that you're his favorite vaudeville actress," the waiter told her.

"Jack Driscoll?" Ann asked. "I remember him. He was the boyfriend of my babysitter when I was a little girl. He seemed more like a tough guy back then. I always imagined him joining the marines or doing something related to that."

"Oh yes-a, I think he-a mentioned that as well," the waiter recalled.

"Halden, I think we may have some luck after all," Carl whispered to his assistant. Carl then mentioned, "Oh, and we've also got Penn Hafner as our screenwriter. Do you know him by any chance Miss Darrow?"

"Penn Hafner, oh yes," Ann replied. "I greatly enjoy his work. I love the way he imagines his own theatrical versions of fairytales. Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and I could go on and on."

"And that's why I thought he would be perfect for our adventure film in Indonesia," Carl told Ann. "He's quite a writer, huh? And let me tell you Ann, he doesn't want just anyone starring in this picture. He said to me, 'Carl, somewhere out there is a woman born to play this role. A woman who will journey into the heart of the unknown.' And as soon as I saw you, I KNEW."

"Knew what?" Ann asked.

"It was always going to be you?" Carl answered.

"Well, it appears I have some surprising connections to this voyage of yours, Mr. Denham, so count me in," Ann gleefully accepted.

"Ah, ha, ha, splendid!" Carl joyfully laughed. "Halden, notepad out."

Halden took out a notepad in his right hand, and a pen in his left, and made notes on Carl's following words, "Tell Mr. Hafner we've got our leading lady. And make sure all our necessary film equipment is on the ship. We set sail at 8 PM tomorrow night sharp."

"Got it," Halden declared, finishing his writing with a side stroke of his pen.

"S.S. Venture tomorrow night at 8, Miss Darrow," Carl reminded Ann.


	4. The Venture

The next night at the New York city docks, just as Carl Denham had said, the SS Venture was just about ready to set sail for the far east. 8 PM was nearing, and there was just one more thing that Carl needed: his leading lady, Ann Darrow. At just five of eight, Carl was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Miss Darrow, fearing that she would be too late – or worse. He was desperately tried to get Captain Englehorn to postpone shipping time, but with no avail.

"Please, Englehorn, my film needs her!" Carl Denham begged the captain. "Another hour?"

"I'm sorry, Denham, I cannot do that," Englehorn replied in his German accent, smoking a cigar. "You should have found your leading lady earlier."

"My film company sprung it on me at the last minute, I had no choice!" Carl argued.

"Sprung what?" Englehorn stubbornly inquired.

Carl sighed in frustration, but before he could answer, Halden said, "Carl, relax. She could be here any minute. It's only five of eight."

"What do you mean five of eight!?" Carl hollered at his assistant. "For crying out loud, Halden, the ship leaves at 8 PM sharp! If Ann doesn't show up, we're screwed!"

"I can always write a new script, Mr. Denham," Penn Hafner calmly proposed, wiping his big round glasses with a handkerchief.

"Or why not do things the old-fashioned way, with footage of wild animals and the audio commentaries to go with it?" the camera man Gary Hersche suggested.

"Or we can have the cabin boy dress up as a lady, ha, ha, ha," the sound technician Nigel Newman joked. "Shakespeare did stuff like that."

"No, no, and NO!" Carl shouted, stomping a foot three times. "Nigel, who do you think I am? A child pornographer? I don't want any girly men in my picture! Gary, we can't do things the old-fashioned way. The studio wants a leading lady, and I want mine to show up NOW! Penn, I don't want a new script! I want everything done the way it was planned!"

"Well Mr. Denham, it's almost time to leave," Captain Englehorn interjected.

HONK! HONK! The conversation was disrupted as a yellow taxi cab pulled out in front of the ship. A door opened, and out came the beautiful blonde woman that Carl Denham had chosen as his leading lady: the lovely Miss Ann Darrow. She wore the same light brown trench coat from yesterday and carried two suitcases, ready for the village to what Carl falsely claimed was Indonesia. As the cab drove off, Carl sighed in relief.

"Ann, just in time, you had me worried sick," Carl told his actress as she approached him and his filming crew.

"So, is this your leading lady, Denham?" Captain Englehorn inquired.

"Affirmative," Carl replied.

"Ma'am, Captain Englehorn, pleased to meet you," the German captain extended a hand to Ann and they shook.

"Ann Darrow," Ann introduced herself. Ann was surprised at Englehorn's relatively young appearance. She expected a sea captain to be old with white hair and a portly stature, but Captain Englehorn was around middle age with a tall frame, broad shoulders, and an auburn mustache.

"Miss Darrow," Penn warmly greeted her with an extended hand.

"Penn Hafner," Ann recognized him, taking his hand. Mr. Hafner appeared as more of a stereotypically depicted nerd, with large black-framed glasses, skinny build, and brown hair parted in the middle. He was just slightly shorter than Ann, with a mildly hunched back, but she was nonetheless delighted to meet her favorite playwright. She placed her other hand on the back of Penn's hand and said, "I am quite familiar with your work Mr. Hafner. I must say that I greatly enjoyed your reimagination of Beauty and the Beast."

"Ah, yes, when Beauty becomes a She-Beast and lives forever with the Beast," Penn recalled. "It turned out a lot better than I expected actually. And I'm excited for our new project in Sku- I mean Indonesia. Pardon me, I was thinking of Scandinavia. My fiancé has ancestry there. With the explorer and his lover, and possibly wildlife such as… um, elephants, tigers, and possibly even the Komodo Dragon. Mr. Denham loves this stuff."

"Miss Darrow, I'm Gary Hersche, Carl's camera man, pleased to meet you," Gary extended a large, bulky hand to Ann and they shook. Gary was taller and tubbier than Carl, with a completely bald head, but nevertheless had a friendly, smiling face that warmed Ann's heart.

"Nigel Newman, sound technician," Nigel casually introduced himself as he shook hands with Ann. Nigel was slender man, at medium height, with gelled short blonde hair hidden under a gray newsboy hat.

"Wonderful, now we all know each other, it's 7:59 so we'd better get moving," Captain Englehorn urged everybody after looking at his wrist watch. He then beckoned Ann toward the ramp leading up to the ship, saying, "Ladies first."

Ann made her way up the ramp, and everyone else followed. Once on board, she flinched as she heard Captain Englehorn shout, "Alright, all aboard! We set sail now!"

Captain Englehorn turned right to make his way to the captain's headquarters as Carl and his film crew headed left. Ann almost followed Carl, Halden, Penn, Gary, and Nigel, but was stopped by a sharp whistle. She turned to see sailors standing about twelve feet away from her.

"Say, Harold, look what the cat dragged in," one sailor commented. He was ugly with a skeleton-like skinny frame, a face with profuse stubble, some missing teeth, and greasy dark brown mullet hair under his sailor cap.

"Cat? You mean sexy cougar? She's the sexiest mama I seen in a long time, Stu," the other sailor replied. He had a face of stubble like his comrade, but was much taller with a husky physique and a buzzed head under his sailor cap.

Ann slowly backed away as the men began to approach her. She was a very kindhearted woman and did not believe in violence, but was strongly tempted to punch them both in the face and push them overboard. However, she knew she could not overpower them both, and was afraid they were going to beat or rape her. Ann wanted to call out to Carl or Captain Englehorn for help, but didn't want to stir up a commotion.

"Come now, pretty kitty, we don't mean no harm," Stu flirted, lustfully smiling.

"The sea is dangerous for gorgeous gals like you, so we wanna protect ya," Harold added.

"I-I-I don't need your help, leave me alone," Ann shakily protested, voice full of fear.

"Come on, we only just met ya," Stu said to her.

"Want me to carry your suitcases? I don't want you to strain those nicely toned ankles of yours," Harold rudely offered. "I'd like your body to be fresh for a threesome later if you're up for it. Just you, me, and Stu."

"There will be none of that!" a tough voice interjected. Ann felt relief as a man in a white uniform with a broadly muscled frame and gelled black hair under his cap stepped right in front of her to protect her from Harold and Stu. Even from behind, and from the sound of his voice, Ann knew who it was. The first mate Jack Driscoll.

"Come on Jack, we was just havin' some fun," Stu complained.

"Miss Darrow is traveling on our ship for a film project, not for your sexual gratification!" Jack scolded the two sailors. "Any funny business with her and Englehorn will have your heads, I can promise you that!"

"Sorry Jack, Stu and I just haven't seen no gals in a long time," Harold falsely apologized.

"I don't care," Jack rebuffed, unimpressed by the fake apology. "And didn't I give you two an order to clean the cargo hold? Now come on, let's go! Get moving!"

Stu and Harold moved in Ann's direction, intending to pass her, but Jack stopped them both with his two muscular arms and demanded them, "Other way!"

Jack pushed the two men off, and they turned and walked the other way. He then turned back toward Ann with a look of concern in his sharp gray eyes. Ann was pleasantly surprised by Jack's protectiveness. She never interacted with him that much during the occasional times when he came over to see her babysitter. She remembered Jack being very stern with her rowdy older brothers, whom his girlfriend had a rather difficult time controlling, and only just discovered that the surly sea adventurer had a soft side.

"Oh, Jack Driscoll, it's been years!" Ann beamed, embracing him. Jack was taken aback by Ann's affection, but gently wrapped his arms around her briefly until she released. In gratitude, Ann went on to say, "Thanks for protecting me from those perverts."

"No problem Ann, it's what I do, I help Englehorn run the ship," Jack told her. "So, I hear you got involved in vaudeville."

"Yes, I was a vaudeville actress, but then my theatre got shut down," Ann sadly confirmed.

"But hey, you've got new opportunities with Mr. Denham," Jack soothed.

"Yes," Ann acknowledged, still morose. Changing the subject, she asked Jack, "So, are you still dating Priscilla?"

"Your babysitter? No," Jack answered. "Years ago, I had my last kiss with her as I went on my first expedition with Englehorn to capture Thylacine in Australia. By the time I got back, I found out she screwed me over for some rich guy. They got married while I was gone and now they've got nine kids together."

"That's awful, I never imagined Priscilla would do that," Ann sympathized.

"Eh, I've been through worse," Jack replied.

BWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! The ship horn went off and the S.S. Venture was ready to set sail. Jack flinched as he remembered his obligations to help Englehorn while setting sail. As much as he wanted to stay and talk with Ann, he had to be faithful to his duties as the first mate.

"Oh shoot, I've gotta help Englehorn!" Jack remembered. He then called out to a teenage African American boy, "Freddy!"

"Yes Jack?!" Jimmy replied.

"Do me a favor and show Miss Darrow to her cabin, I've got to help Englehorn!" Jack asked the young man.

"Sure thing Jack!" Freddy complied.

As Jack departed to the right, to go assist Englehorn with setting sail, Freddy approached Ann and politely introduced himself, "Freddy Hendrick, ma'am. I'm the cabin boy."

"Ann Darrow, it's nice to meet you Freddy," Ann warmly responded, shaking his hand.

"May I carry your luggage?" Freddy asked.

"Sure, thank you Freddy," Ann said as she handed her to suitcases to Freddy.

As the two of them walked to the left, to find Ann's cabin, Freddy questioned, "So are you nervous about this voyage, Miss Darrow?"

"Nervous? Should I be?" Ann inquired.

"We usually do live animal capture for zoos and circuses, so we travel to all sorts of exotic places for that," Freddy shared. "I hear Mr. Denham likes filming wildlife. He says we're heading for Indonesia, but he didn't say where in Indonesia, so I've got a strange feeling we're heading for somewhere else, or something else."

"Well, he did say something about elephants, tigers, and the Komodo Dragon," Ann said.

"Film directors have got crazy imaginations," Freddy commented. "But I fear Denham's imagination may be a little too crazy. I've got strange feelings about the man. Wherever we're really going, if it's not Indonesia, I feel that elephants, tigers, and Komodo Dragons will be the least of our worries. Maybe there's something bigger he intends to get in his film. Or something that none of us even know about."

BWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! The ship horn was blown again, and the S.S. Venture set sail for Indonesia. Although Freddy was right. Denham did not want to film in Indonesia, for he had secretly planned on shooting his next picture on Skull Island. Thus, Ann Darrow began her journey into the heart of the unknown, just as Carl Denham said she would.


	5. Beginning of the Voyage

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Loud knocking on Ann Darrow's cabin door caused the leading lady to flinch awake, thus ending her night long beauty sleep. Miss Darrow knew that boarding the Venture was no dream, but she felt as if her awakening marked the first official day of her voyage after boarding the ship on the previous night. Rising from under the covers of a bed with an iron railing and waking up to yellowish white walls and closet doors, the feeling sunk into Ann that she would be away from home for a very long time.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! The door knocked again as Ann's bare feet touched the wooden brown floor and she stood up in her ice blue embroidered silk nightgown. She timidly approached the door and opened it to see Jack Driscoll standing there, looking very concerned.

"Good morning, Miss Darrow," Jack greeted her.

"Um – good morning Jack," Ann replied, curtsying with an awkward smile on her face.

"Did everything go okay for you last night?" Jack asked. "Those two hooligans didn't bother you again, did they?"

"Everything was fine, and no, neither one of them even set a foot in here," Ann answered. "Although, I felt very uncomfortable after they tried to get me to sleep with them, so I decided to keep to myself for the night after Freddy brought me to my cabin here."

"Good for you, Miss Darrow," Jack smiled. "Freddy's a good guy. I like him a lot. Stu and Harold are the biggest knuckleheads of the entire crew. Always shirking duties and doing stupid things. Englehorn had a talk with them last night after I reported them. How he didn't fire them is beyond me. So I asked the second mate, Hugo Briggs, to keep an eye on them and make sure they wouldn't mess with you again."

"Thanks Jack, I appreciate it," Ann thanked him.

"Whatever I gotta do to look out for the leading lady," Jack said. "Anyways, Mr. Denham and his little film crew are in the kitchen. Our cook, Gustavo Moracchioli, is making breakfast right now as we speak."

"Gustavo, I know Gustavo!" Ann delightfully told Jack.

"Ah yes, Mr. Denham mentioned that to me last night," Jack shared. "He was a family friend of yours I heard. Must have been before his wife died from a heart attack and he joined the Venture to be closer to his sons. That's what he told me and Englehorn."

"Oh, what a shame, my father never told me about that," Ann sympathized.

"Yeah," Jack sighed. "Anyways, you should probably get yourself ready. Mr. Denham wants to start filming first thing after breakfast. I'll wait outside till you're ready, just to make sure Stu and Harold don't come waltzing in here."

"It's okay Jack, I should be fine," Ann assured Jack. Touching his bulky shoulder, she said, "If Englehorn talked to them, like you said, then I know I'm in good hands."

"Are you sure?" Jack asked Ann.

"Positive," Ann confidently responded.

"Alright then, see you in a few," Jack said, closing Ann's cabin door.

Jack let out a deep breath once he turned away from the closed door. The protective first mate flinched as a deep voice greeted him, "Good morning, Mr. Driscoll."

Jack turned to his left to see a tall and muscular man with tan skin and silky dark brown hair under his sailor hat. Jack replied, "Oh, Briggs, it's you. Good morning."

"Are you coming to breakfast now or what?" Briggs asked Jack.

"Breakfast, oh yes," Jack breathily answered.

As the two men walked down the hallway together, Briggs questioned Jack, "You seem kinda nervous about something. What's eating you Jack?"

"Ah, nothing," Jack rebuffed. "You had Stu and Harold run the ropes on deck, right?"

"You're worried about Miss Darrow, aren't you?" Briggs teased. "You got a thing for her?"

"Are you kidding?! No!" Jack belligerently denied. "Why would I want somebody my ex-girlfriend babysat years ago?!"

"Well, she's a grown woman now," Briggs pointed out. "And a gorgeous gal, I'll say."

"Now you're sounding like Stu and Harold!" Jack snapped.

"Jack, calm down, you worry too much," Briggs said nonchalantly.

Jack would not calm down as he saw Stu and Harold heading down the hall in their direction. Both of those goons hesitated with nervous facial expression as Jack huffed, glared, pursed his lips and swiftly walked toward them. He grabbed both Stu and Harold by the collar and interrogated them, "Where do you think you're going?!"

"Oh, J-J-Jack, we forgot about the ropes after uh-uh, bre-bre-breakfast," Stu stammered.

"Gustavo gave us a couple raw eggs," Harold lied. "We just wanted to uh, apologize to Miss Darrow… about last night."

"Oh, no you don't!" Jack scolded them, pushing them both back. He knew their dishonest tactics, and that Gustavo never gave anybody any raw proteins. "Not while I'm around! Now quit messing around and get the ropes NOW!"

"Sir yes sir!" Stu and Harold frantically complied as they ran away from Jack and turned to the hallway on the left.

As Jack and Briggs followed in that direction to get to the kitchen, Jack confided in Briggs, "I'm just concerned about those two messing with her, cause that's not right."

"You sure you don't have the hots for her?" Briggs questioned.

"No, I don't, and I told you I was done with women after Priscilla screwed me over for that rich guy!" Jack angrily reminded Briggs.

"Ha, and I told ya that would never last," Briggs laughed. Jack shook his head in frustration and responded with a huff.

 _(Moments later, in the kitchen)_

"So, Miss Darrow's-a well this morning?" Gustavo asked as he was frying scrambled eggs on his grill for Carl. "I did not want to scare her after what-a happened last night."

"Seemed like she was fine when I last saw her," Jack replied, chewing strips of bacon. "I just hope Stu and Harold didn't slip into her cabin after me and Briggs got here."

"Jack, come on, those two get so scared they'll do anything you say when you're tough on them," Briggs assured Jack, patting a hand on Jack's shoulder while munching on bacon strips with his comrade. "You saw them. They fled like the devil was after them when you told them to run the ropes on deck."

"Well yeah, but how much longer is it going to be until they successfully pull their shenanigans with her behind my back," Jack worried.

"Now, now, Jack, Stu and Harold once-a viewed me as nothing more than a beardless Italian Santa Claus when I first joined, and-a they mocked me, but-a now they love-a me," Gustavo soothed. Gustavo was a very friendly man, and even his physical appearance was so welcoming. He was a heavyset man of medium height, olive skin tone, and a balding head with graying, curly black hair. Yet, his beaming brown eyes, pudgy nose, and frequent smiling could warm the coldest of the cold hearts. He was undoubtedly the most positive and most pleasant member of the Venture crew. "Miss-a Darrow was a sweet little girl when I once knew her. If Stu and Harold see that, they will probably not even DREAM of-a raping her."

"Hope not, but then there are all the duties they like to shirk, and Englehorn doesn't have the nerve to fire them," Jack complained.

Seemingly ignoring Jack's complaint, Gustavo brushed Carl's scrambled eggs onto a plate and walked it over to him saying, "Mr. Denham, your eggs are-a ready."

"Well it's about time Gustavo," Carl responded. "You're lucky I like them a little hard and crunchier with brown crisp in it."

"Oh sorry, Mr. Denham, I like to talk sometimes-a while I do my work, he-he," Gustavo apologized, laughing.

"I see," Carl said in an annoyed low tone.

"C'mon Carl, lighten up," Halden soothed. He, Penn, Gary, and Nigel were all sitting at the table with Carl, eating their respective breakfasts. "You gotta love Gustavo. And ya know, the whole crew seems nice too. I think this will be a fun voyage and a perfect time to film."

"Ha, ha, gotta love your corny words of wisdom Halden," Nigel joked.

"Men, you know me, where I really wanna shoot is in the jungles of Indonesia," Carl told them. He then smiled and looked to Jack, saying, "You know somethin' Jack, I almost wish I could have cast you in my film with Ann. I can tell you're real protective of her after those two pervish sailors tried to shack up with her. And something tells me"-

"I'm NOT in love with her Carl!" Jack snapped, slamming a hand on the kitchen counter.

Everyone in the room laughed, even Gustavo, and Briggs cheekily remarked, "I actually called it first, Mr. Denham."

"Come on Briggs, you've seen how tough I've been with the wild animals on our voyages, I don't have time to drag a lady friend into that," Jack convinced the second mate. "Who's even playing Ann's love interest in Denham's film anyhow?"

"I am," said a tall lean man with silky black hair and a thin mustache as he entered through the kitchen door.

"Theodore Weston, Denham decided to cast you of all people," Jack recognized him, not looking particularly fond.

"C'mon Jack, he's GREAT, he's starred in a lot the western and jungle classics," Carl told the first mate.

"Well, I didn't really want to see him here," Jack retorted.

"Why, 'cause you didn't want me to see you working on a rugged ship?" Theodore taunted Jack. "Is that why you never came to the high school reunions?"

"I didn't want to see you cause you're a jerk, and I don't care nothin' about high school reunions, Mr. Attention Seeker," Jack insulted Theodore.

"Now gentlemen, why don't we settle this over breakfast?" Halden interjected.

"I already ate, Halden," Jack coldly reminded him.

"So, Jack, I heard you flipped out at two guys who were messing with Ann, and now everybody thinks you've got a thing for her," Theodore teased. He then whispered in Jack's ear, "Don't worry, I'll take that speculation off you, if ya know what I mean."

Jack grabbed Theodore's collar and growled, "Oh for crying out loud, I do NOT"-

Jack felt embarrassed and quickly released Theodore as Ann walked in with Freddy at her side. The sweet scent of Ann's perfume filled the entire room, and she wore black eye liner, red lipstick, and flowing a light-yellow dress with a matching scarf.

"I just thought I might show Miss Darrow to the kitchen for breakfast," Freddy explained. "I just happened to be walking by as she stepped out of her cabin door."

"Miss-a Darrow!" Gustavo beamed, approaching her with open arms.

"Oh my gosh, Gustavo!" Ann delightfully squealed, running toward the Italian cook and embracing him. "Oh, it's been years."

"My, how you've grown, and what a lovely dress," Gustavo marveled.

"I recently lost my job in vaudeville, but Mr. Denham took me in as his leading lady," Ann told Gustavo. "We met your brother at an Italian restaurant in New York. I forget what the place was called, but he told us you work here."

"My brother? Ah yes, Lidio. He called-a me two nights ago, and he told me all about it-a," Gustavo mentioned. "He's a good-a guy."

"Yeah, he seemed real pleasant when Miss Darrow, Carl, and I met him," Halden shared.

"Speaking of pleasant, Miss Darrow, may I give you a pleasant greeting?" Theodore flirted as he approached Ann. Ann giggled and Jack rolled his eyes, sighing with contempt. Theodore took Ann's hand, kissed it, and introduced himself, "I am Theodore Weston. Mr. Denham chose me as his leading man, just as you are the leading lady."

"Oh, well I'm delighted to meet you Mr. Weston," Ann warmly replied, touching his cheek.

"Hey Mr. Weston, try not to get too gooey with her, you'll make Mr. Driscoll mad," Stu mocked as he walked into the kitchen with Harold.

"And he's got a BAD temper," Harold added, cheekily smiling. "A surly first mate he is. And before you lash out at us again Jack, we just finished running the ropes on deck."

"Mr. Driscoll means no harm, he just wants to keep everything in order, that's all," Ann politely defended Jack, bringing a brief smile to his face.

"Ah yes, I see, well I'm sure his 'surly nature' will be sorted out in due time," Theodore teased Jack, tapping his cheek. Jack wanted to strangle him.

"Hey Theodore, you might wanna eat up, we start filming in half an hour," Carl suggested.

"Oh boy, this is going to be a long voyage," Jack murmured to himself. As much as he denied it to the other men on the ship, he was growing feelings for Ann. Her beauty was only secondary, for she was the most pleasant and polite girl he had met in a long time. He felt very protective of her. Mr. Driscoll not only felt the need to keep an eye on Stu and Harold, but his old high school rival Theodore Weston as well.


	6. Filming and Sailing

Thirty minutes after breakfast, just as Carl said, began a part of the voyage that Jack quickly grew to dread. Filming. He would have rather gouged an eye out than see his old high school rival, Theodore Weston, acting with a young woman that they both loved. Ann Darrow. As much as Jack despised Stu and Harold, he would have rather seen one of those two play Ann's love interest because he knew they would have little to no chance of being her lover in real life. Neither of them were particularly attractive, or smart, or had the best social skills. Theodore Weston, on the other hand, was a very handsome and suave man.

Theodore was very popular during the time he and Jack were in high school together. Enmity had grown between the two of them after Jack got himself in a relationship with Priscilla Whitaker, whom Theodore loved. Since then, Theodore did everything he could to be better than Jack; acting in school theater, singing in school concerts, throwing house parties in his parents' mansion, and even charming and befriending as many female students as possible.

As Jack saw Theodore at the rail of the ship deck, dressed in his sailor costume and waiting for Ann to come out, he feared that he would successfully get even with him for inadvertently stealing Priscilla. Eye for an eye. Jack's heart raced and his face was laden with despondent countenance as he observed Theodore at the rail, Gary with the camera, and Carl ready to give filming regulations upon the word "action."

"Alright, everyone from the top, and action!" Carl directed.

As Gary began turning the crank on Carl's camera, Ann gleefully came out beside Theodore, saying, "I think this is awfully exciting! I've never been on a ship before."

"And I've never been on one with a woman before," Theodore nonchalantly replied.

"You don't think much of women on ships, do you?" Ann asked.

"No, they're a nuisance," Theodore coldly answered.

"Well I'll try not to be," Ann told him.

"Just being around is trouble," Theodore remarked.

Jack could not stomach any more of what he was seeing, so he turned around and tuned out the dialogue for about thirty seconds until Carl ended the scene, "Cut! It's great. Theodore, wonderful performance, you can relax for ten minutes. That was very natural. I felt moved."

As Theodore departed from the film crew, he passed Jack, snidely saying, "What do you think, Driscoll? Dialogue's got some flow now, huh?"

Jack rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, "It was pure effluence."

"I beefed up the banter," Theodore shared.

"Try to resist that impulse," Jack rebuffed.

"It's just a little humor bud," Theodore cheekily explained, nudging Jack with an elbow. "What are you, a Bolshevik or something?"

As Theodore walked away, Jack shook his head and murmured to himself, "Actors."

Jack felt a small sense of peace as Ann approached him, smiling, and asked, "So what did you think of my performance, Jack?"

"I think the character you played suits your personality very well," Jack told her. "I'm not too fond of Theodore though. He and I were archrivals back in high school and he still acts like a snobby prom queen to me."

"He is a very good actor though," Ann said. "I'm sure your guys dispute will be all sorted out in due time."

"Let me tell you something, Ann, you're a good actress, as a profession and as a person," Jack complimented her. He then sighed, and continued, "Just keep in mind, not all actors are admirable in both categories, if you get what I'm saying. Just um… don't change who you are. Most importantly, don't let any conceited actors influence you."

"Aw, Jack, don't worry, I'll be fine," Ann assured him, touching his cheek. "I really appreciate you looking out for me though."

"Yeah, it's uh… it's what I do," Jack bashfully replied, rubbing the back of his head.

Ann embraced Jack, and then departed, saying, "See you in a few."

 _(Throughout the course of several weeks)_

Outside duties of helping Captain Englehorn run the ship, Jack enjoyed watching Ann as Carl and Gary filmed her. She always looked extravagantly beautiful and he always looked forward to seeing what makeup and costumes she would wear. Ann's embrace and regular friendliness toward Jack made him feel more confident and able to withstand the snide remarks of Theodore. Although Ann and Theodore acted as lovers on camera, Jack saw no sure signs that she was interested in him. Theodore often flirted with her, but she would kindly smile it off without any giggling, blushing, or hair-touching. She was still on friendly terms with him though. After acting on filmset, Ann would usually go to Jack first for feedback, and Jack would lovingly give his answers. They would often find time to spend together outside of filming and ship duties and have long conversations. Ann often touched Jack's muscular arms, laughed, joked, blushed, and ran her slender fingers through the curls of her blonde hair. Jack often smiled at this with an internal sense of confidence, knowing that he had better luck with Ann than Theodore.

Stu and Harold grew to understand the boundaries with Ann that Jack had set before them. Their sexual desires for her gradually decreased, but they became more friendly with them. They still tended to shirk duties that Englehorn, Jack, and Briggs gave them, but Ann would often step in and get them working by saying, "Do it for me." Stu and Harold were humbled by Ann's kindness toward them and developed a friendship with her. Jack was still a bit wary of those two, although largely due to his past dislike of them, but was not concerned that either one of them would try to rape Ann. While Stu and Harold grew to understand their boundaries with Ann, they looked at Theodore with contempt and ridicule as he continued to show interest in her. Theodore was blissfully unaware that Ann had feelings for Jack as he continually strove to outdo him in trying to impress her. This did not bother Jack, because he knew Theodore would experience a humiliating failure in trying to get in a relationship with Ann.

Carl resiliently took charge of filming production. He and Gary shot scenes of Ann and Theodore every day. He often met with Halden to make filming plans, Penn to continue screenwriting, Nigel to edit the sound recording of the film stock. He frequently got frustrated with editing errors, due to his short temper, but they were always resolved. As production went on, he felt more and more confident about his film project. Ann, Theodore, Halden, Gary, Penn, and Nigel all enjoyed having their parts in it – and Jack and the rest of the Venture crew enjoyed watching the film shots when given the chance. However, nobody except Carl and his personal film crew knew where the climax of the film would take place… and it was not Indonesia.

 _(October 5_ _th_ _, 1933)_

A merry gathering took place on the deck of the Venture under a colorful dusk sky. Everyone, sailors and film crew, stood around as Theodore was about to offer a romantic dance to Ann. The only two not present were Carl and Captain Englehorn, but everyone else seemed to be blissfully unaware. Gustavo had his accordion ready, his sons Stefano and Giuseppe were eager to play their ukulele and acoustic guitar, Briggs was positioned at a large hand drum, and Freddy was about to play the flute that he had since middle school choir. Jack was standing by the railing with Stu and Harold, waiting for Theodore to humiliate himself in front of everybody.

"Ann Darrow, you are my love, not only in Mr. Denham's film, but in real life as well," Theodore cornily charmed Ann. "Will you dance with me?"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Stu and Harold burst out laughing, and everyone else chimed in, including Jack.

"That's the most embarrassing flirt I heard in years, Harold!" Stu jeered to his buddy.

"Yeah, he's gonna go down the crapper for this one, Stu!" Harold laughed.

Ann seized upon the opportunity to gently let Theodore down in favor of someone else. "Theodore, this is very sweet of you, but I think I want to dance with Jack."

Everyone cheered and applauded as Theodore dropped his jaw and cried, "WHAT?!"

"You heard the lady, Fancypants, let's go," Harold said as he grabbed Theodore by one of his lean arms and pulled him to the side.

"Go get 'em, Jack!" Stu encouraged Jack as he nudged him on to go dance with Ann.

Gustavo, Stefano, Giuseppe, Briggs, and Freddy began to play their instruments as the other men clapped to the tune and Jack and Ann were about to dance. The two spun and shuffled their feet around as Gustavo opened his mouth and loudly sang an old Irish folk song in his native Italian language. Hardly anybody could translate Gustavo's lyrics into English, but his voice was unforgettable. He had an operatic baritone voice that would add excitement to even the most boring Broadway shows. He even hummed slower tunes to himself while working alone, or loudly sang the slow tunes in the shower. This time, his singing vocals were much more upbeat while still having impeccable pitch and power. His voice was so moving that many sailors joyfully laughed and cheered to his song. Even Stefano and Giuseppe felt compelled to give their father backup vocals because his song was so engaging.

Everyone was having a wonderful time except for poor Theodore. He felt humiliated after losing yet another lady to his old high school rival. He feared that his reputation on the ship was shattered and nobody would respect him. Would the public in America still respect him for his involvement in high quality films? Would he find a better lady friend than Miss Darrow? How long would it be until he finally got back home to find out? In despair, he looked up to his right and saw Carl talking with Captain Englehorn on a higher platform. Englehorn had a map in his hands and nodded as Carl pointed around while speaking to him. Theodore had a strange feeling that things were about to change course. Wherever the Venture would go, other than Indonesia, he was nervous to find out what dwelled there. Would he survive and thus gain more respect? Perhaps some love from Ann? Or would he die and be spared future torment of a loser's life?

 _(Later in the Evening)_

Jack and Ann hung outside on the ship rail, having one of their usual conversations.

"So, what did you think of Gustavo's voice, Jack?" Ann asked.

"Oh, I've heard him before, I just never expected he would do something so upbeat as an Irish folk song, in Italian language," Jack nonchalantly replied.

"Gustavo loves to be creative with this stuff in special gatherings, he used to sing at my family's parties after he finished cooking," Ann told him.

"Gotta say, I really enjoyed dancing to his song," Jack said. "It was the first time I'd done something like that in years, and I never thought I'd enjoy a dance like that with anyone other than my old gal Priscilla."

"And why is that?" Ann inquired, gently holding his arm.

Jack faced her and hesitantly stammered, "I-uh… I… I guess I"-

"Ah, look Harold, a post boy-girl dance chat," Stu commented as he and Harold approached Jack and Ann.

"I never had nothin' like that," Harold replied.

"Guys, will you get the heck outta here?!" Jack snapped at them, annoyed.

"No, Jack, it's okay," Ann assured him.

"Yeah, and we know you guys, um… uh never mind," Stu said.

"We been wanting to say to you both, sorry we seemed all creepy at first," Harold apologized. "Stu and I known each other since we was yay big. We're cousins, more like brothers though. We been through so much trouble together."

"Back in our high school days, say 16 and 17, Harold and I used to shack up with the prostitutes, but our parents didn't like that so they sent us here to get our act together," Stu added. "We never really knew how to act around women cause we ain't seen virtually none of them while being on the Venture. When someone's as nice as Ann here, then we start to think straight."

"It's kinda like the goodness o' God leadin' ya to repentance, change of understanding ya know," Harold commented. "My daddy's real religious and he taught this to me a while ago."

"Well I guess there's more to you rascals then meets the eye," Jack smiled.

"Jack," Briggs interjected.

Jack turned around and responded, "Yes?"

"Captain Englehorn wants to see you," Briggs told him. Jack looked a bit hesitant to leave Ann with Stu and Harold, but Briggs gently clapped onto their shoulders and said, "Don't worry, Jack. I'll keep an eye on these two for ya."

"Yeah, you can count on Briggs to keep us outta trouble," Stu joked.

"Least until you trust us more," Harold added, smiling.

"Go on Jack, your captain needs you," Ann gently urged him. So Jack went on to meet with Captain Englehorn, having yet to see the expedition take its climax.


	7. Changing Course

"You called me, Captain Englehorn?" Jack asked as he opened the door to the captain's headquarters. "What do you need me to do?"

The German captain turned around, smoking a cigar, and replied, "Denham just revealed his specific destination. An uncharted island southwest of Sumatra."

"Southwest of Sumatra?" Jack inquired.

Englehorn pulled out a large Earth map and pointed to the center of the Indian Ocean, saying, "Right here, Jack. 12 degrees south and 70 degrees east."

"Captain, that's WAY southwest of Sumatra!" Jack argued, concerned. "This takes us outside of the shipping lanes! We can't do that! We've traveled thousands of miles and seven vessels have already been lost in these waters!"

Captain Englehorn ignored Jack, puffing more smoke from his cigar. Provoked, Jack interrogated his captain, "How much did that scumbag pay you?"

"That's enough, Jack," Englehorn rebuffed him.

"How much?! To compromise the safety of your ship and your crew?!" Jack snapped.

"There are dangers in any job, Jack," Englehorn excused himself.

"Well whatever you got, I hope it's worth it," Jack sternly told him.

"Set a course for the island, Jack, 12 degrees south and 70 degrees east, we're going to have to turn southwest," Englehorn gave his order.

"What's this place even called?" Jack asked.

"Never mind, Jack, you can ask Mr. Denham later," Englehorn answered. "Now come on, let's set a course for the island."

With a sigh of reluctance, Jack took hold of the steering wheel and complied with his captain's orders, thus beginning the journey to Mr. Denham's mysterious island.

 _(A Few Minutes After Turning Southwest)_

Carl was sitting at a table in the center of his cabin with Halden, Gary, Penn, and Nigel. Nigel was playing the audio of Carl's filmstock and Penn had his typewriter ready to make any script additions or changes. Mr. Denham, of course, had his usual frustrations during editing.

"Oh, Marlow, are you going to go into the wilderness without me?" Ann's voice emotionally asked on Nigel's sound recorder.

"It's part of my job, Jane," Theodore's voice replied. "Nothing I haven't done before. I'll come back to you, I promise."

"Stop, stop, stop, I don't like it," Carl complained.

Perplexed, Nigel turned off the audio and asked, "What's the matter, Carl. The audio sounded just fine this time."

"The lines are just corny, too corny for my liking," Carl protested.

"I don't see anything wrong with it, Mr. Denham," Penn interjected.

"Yeah, makes a pretty darn good moment of romantic drama, huh?" Nigel commented.

All five men flinched as the door abruptly swung open, and there stood Jack, looking very frustrated and irritated. He stepped into the room, slammed the door shut, and sharply said, "Denham, we need to talk!"

"Uh, Jack, this isn't the time, we're in the middle of editing here," Carl replied.

Slowly approaching Carl, Jack argued, "You know something, Carl? It wasn't the time for YOU to tell my stupid yes-man captain to turn southwest when we were just nearing the coast of Indonesia! And now we're heading to some unnamed, mysterious island in the center of the Indian Ocean; 12 degrees south and 70 degrees west. What is this place?!"

"Why, it's an undiscovered place called Skull Island, Jack," Halden told him.

"Halden!" Carl snapped, slamming the table. Carl then stood up of his chair and slowly backed away from Jack with his hands out, saying, "Jack, please, I'm not looking for trouble."

Jack hastily closed in on Carl, swatted his arms out of the way, pulled him up close by the shirt, and threatened, "You… are going to tell me everything I don't know… or I'm going to beat your brains out."

Carl pulled a folded, tattered yellow map out of his pocket and said, "See this map, Jack? It's a map of Skull Island. I got it from the skipper of a Norwegian barque. His crew got shipwrecked and they were stranded there for about a year. Took a long time for them to rebuild the ship, so he made a map of the island during that time."

Jack let go of Carl, snatched the map out of his hand and opened it up to examine it. He then looked up at Carl and asked him, "Did he tell you what's ON that island?"

"Well, it's surrounded by jagged rocks and covered in thick fog"- Carl began.

"I asked you what's ON the island, Carl!" Jack interrupted.

"On the island? Oh, there's prehistoric life and all kinds of unknown species," Carl revealed. "Not too far from shore is the natives, and they have this MASSIVE wall built to protect them from the jungle."

"Jungle?" Jack inquired.

"That's right, a deep, dark jungle, Jack," Carl affirmed. "A lot of those creatures behind the wall are mankillers. The biggest and baddest of them all is a lone creature feared by the natives. He's said to be around 50 feet tall, neither beast nor man, but monstrous in nature. His head is mountainous. His eyes are like flaming fire. His nose is flat with nostrils of perpetual flare. His ears are big enough to hear the cries of the natives from afar. His yellowish fangs shame that of a vampire's. His body has the muscles of a god. His fingernails are like giant daggers that tear through the strongest hide. His skin is an eerie brownish gray with a dark brown fur coat. He bears the blood red scars of an isolated, violent past."

"It's got to be some kind of native superstition," Penn incredulously suggested.

"Oh no, I think this thing is real," Halden expressed, worried. "Why would the natives build that wall if it wasn't?"

"It must be some kind of giant sasquatch or tropic-dwelling yeti or something?" Gary remarked. "I'd say it's either carnivorous or just real territorial. Or both."

"Well whatever this thing is, we'd best leave it alone," Jack urged. "It's not worth risking our necks to film a 50-foot monster."

"Monsters belong in THE movies, Jack," Carl confidently argued.

Walking toward the door and opening it, Jack warned Carl, "Oh, it'll be the last movie you ever make. I can almost guarantee you that."

Jack exited Carl's cabin and closed the door behind him. The first thing he saw in the hall was Theodore standing tensely against the wall, looking like he had just seen a ghost.

"Jack, was Mr. Denham just talking about an island with some hairy 50-foot monster?" Theodore shakily inquired.

"Ask him yourself," Jack coldly rebuffed him, walking away.

Jack made his way to Ann's cabin and gently knocked on the door. Ann opened the door to her dimly lit cabin, giggling and blushing as Jack saw her in her ice blue embroidered silk nightgown. She then greeted him, "Hi Jack. Come on in."

Jack stepped in the room and told her in a grave, serious tone, "Ann, I really feel the need to share this with you."

"Share what?" Ann asked.

"We're not actually going to Indonesia," Jack began.

"What?" Ann inquired.

"Denham hid his real destination from us for seven weeks," Jack explained. "Englehorn had me turn the ship southwest for an uncharted island in the center of the Indian Ocean. Denham says he got the map from the skipper of a Norwegian barque."

"What's this place called?" Ann questioned him.

"Skull Island," Jack replied in a low tone. "I've not heard good things about that place. He says the natives built a wall to protect themselves from a m-, from these unidentified, vicious creatures of the jungle."

"Then why would Mr. Denham bring us there?" Ann asked, surprised and confused.

"Because he's a lunatic, that's why, all he cares about is his stupid film," Jack rambled. "He'll go so far to make a fortune, even if it costs other people's lives."

"Oh, Jack, it's a miracle if I survive this," Ann remarked.

"If WE survive this," Jack corrected her. "Ann, whatever happens on that island, whatever the dangers there turn out to be, I just want you to know… I love you. That's what I'd been trying to tell you earlier. You're beautiful to me, inside and out. Whether we're together for a limited period of time, or the rest of our lives, I just want you to know… I love you."

"Oh, Jack," Ann whispered as she wrapped her arms around his broad neck, going in for the kiss. Their lips connected, and Jack gently placed his hands on Ann's waist. He stroked her curved hips as they continued kissing. Pure romantic ecstasy was felt in both of them. Ann did not care where the Venture was going, as long as she had her beloved Jack with her. Jack had already seen exotic dangers on previous voyages, and had yet to see how severe Skull Island's dangers were, but was determined to protect his beautiful Ann at all costs.


	8. Skull Island

_(One week later – October 12_ _th_ _, 1933)_

The watchman was in his crow's nest on a dreary day. Josuke Suzuki was his name. This man, of foreign Japanese descent, had only an average body build but had the observation and sight skills of a Samurai on top of a wall. Standing instead of sitting, as usual, Mr. Suzuki kept a sharp eye out for the destination that Captain Englehorn and Jack Driscoll had told him about. From what Mr. Suzuki remembered, the first thing he was looking out for was the vast system of fog. And lo, he the spotted gigantic clouds of fog on the ocean waters.

"Fog," Mr. Suzuki whispered to himself. He then screamed out, "CAPTAIN, FOG AHEAD! WE FOUND THE ISLAND!"

Jack, Briggs, Englehorn heard Mr. Suzuki from inside the captain's headquarters, and Englehorn was the first to speak, "Jack, reduce the shipping speed to slow. Briggs, go out and tell Mr. Suzuki to keep an eye out for the jagged rocks Denham told us about."

"Aye, captain," Jack and Briggs both complied. Jack pulled the lever on the shipping speed control and Briggs went outside to talk to Mr. Suzuki.

"MR. SUZUKI!" Briggs shouted up to the Japanese watchman, once outside. "CAPTAIN ENGLEHORN SAYS KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE JAGGED ROCKS!"

"Aye, Briggs!" Josuke answered. He reached into his pocket, took out his trusty pair of black binoculars, and looked through them for any rocks.

Once Briggs was back inside the captain's headquarters, Englehorn told him, "Briggs, dim the lights for me please."

"Aye, captain," Briggs complied as he dimmed the lights so Englehorn could see better as he steered the ship.

Englehorn then gave a second order to Jack, "Jack, go get Helstrom. Tell him he's got to drop anchor once the fog lifts. I want him on deck in advance."

"Roger that, captain," Jack agreed.

Jack knew where the anchorman Duke Helstrom usually hung out in his spare time. The furnaces. He made his way down there to find the heavyset, sweaty brown-haired man playing a game of cards with a group of other sailors.

"Helstrom," Jack called. Helstrom looked at the first mate without saying anything. Jack continued, "We're approaching the island. Englehorn wants you on deck now. He says you've got to drop anchor once the fog lifts."

"Aye, Jack," Helstrom responded in his low-baritone, troll-esque voice. The big man grunted as he stood and shook the floor with heavy footsteps behind Jack as he followed him upstairs. Helstrom was well over six feet tall and weighed around 300 pounds, but had the most massive, muscular arms out of any crewman on the ship. He was presumed to be strong enough to take down a professional sumo wrestler, so Englehorn was wise in choosing him as the anchorman.

When Jack was back near the captain's headquarters, he saw Stu and Harold hanging by the ship railing and told them, "Stu, Harold, Mr. Suzuki's up there watching out for the jagged rocks. I want you guys to be mediators. Whatever Mr. Suzuki tells you he sees, tell us immediately so we know which directions to steer. Do it for Ann."

"For Ann, Jack," Stu smiled.

"For Ann," Harold parroted.

Jack smiled, then shouted up to Mr. Suzuki, "MR. SUZUKI, STU AND HAROLD ARE DOWN HERE! WHEN YOU SEE ANY ROCKS, TELL THEM IMMEDIATELY! THEN THEY'LL TELL US SO WE KNOW WHICH DIRECTIONS TO STEER!"

"Got it, Jack!" Mr. Suzuki answered from his crow's nest, still looking through binoculars.

Once Jack got back inside the captain's headquarters, Englehorn asked him, "You asked Stu and Harold to serve as mediators? We usually give them more low key tasks than that."

"Well, captain, they happened to be standing right outside as I was coming back, had to get them to do something," Jack explained. "They seem to have become much more productive with Ann on this ship anyway."

"On second thought, yes, I have observed that," Englehorn mentioned.

"STRAIGHT TEN FATHOMS, 45 DEGREE RIGHT TURN!" Mr. Suzuki's voice echoed.

Then Stu rushed into the room and repeated, "Straight ten fathoms, then make a 45-degree right turn, Mr. Suzuki said!"

"Jack, make sure somebody's counting the fathoms, and tell Harold to get the readings for us," Englehorn ordered him.

Jack went outside and saw a tall and skinny goateed sailor, Long John Callaghan, holding an anchor-like rope instrument in the water. Jack called out to him, "Long John, count the fathoms down from 10 to 0!"

"Aye, Jack!" Long John answered.

"Harold, give us the readings immediately as Long John counts," Jack told Harold. The sailor silently nodded in response.

As soon as Jack got back inside the headquarters, Long John almost immediately shouted out, "NINE FATHOMS!"

Harold then rushed in and repeated, "Nine fathoms, Long John said!"

"Nine fathoms," Englehorn muttered to himself, tensely grasping the steering wheel.

For about ten minutes straight, the crewmen continued shouting navigation orders amongst themselves. Toward the end of it, Halden lead Ann to the front deck, saying, "Ann, come with me. Mr. Denham wants to get a shot of you as we arrive to the island."

"Now, he wants to film me now?" Ann asked.

"Sure, why not? That's why we're here," Halden told her.

Once on the front deck, as the Venture continued navigating through the fog and jagged rocks, Gary filmed Ann as Carl gave director's orders. "You're feeling uneasy, Ann. The feeling's growing, it's washing over you. You're trembling Ann. You're overwhelmed. Look up slowly, Ann. That's it. You can't look away. It scares you. You're helpless. You wanna scream, but your throat's paralyzed. There's just once chance if you could try to scream. Try to scream, Ann. Try. Throw your arms across your eyes and scream. SCREAM ANN, SCREAM FOR YOUR LIFE!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Ann shrieked, throwing her arms over her eyes.

"HRAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOAAAOOOAAAAWRR!" a distant, ghastly roar echoed in response to Ann's scream from afar. It was like a low-pitched monkey scream combined with the traditional monster's roar.

Carl continued filming throughout the roar, but everyone else on the ship was paralyzed with silence, until the fog lifted and the island was seen. The island was broad with a vast, skull-shaped cave entrance, and bits of jungle vegetation made visible behind it. Captain Englehorn stepped outside his headquarters and loudly announced, "WE FOUND THE ISLAND! PREPARE TO DROP ANCHOR!"

Helstrom nodded, having heard the announcement from afar, and tossed the heavy ship anchor into the water with a great heave. As the ship stopped, Helstrom headed back down to the furnace, saying to himself, "My work here is done."

"Ann, what happened, is everything okay?" Jack frantically asked as he rushed out onto the deck where she, Carl, Gary, and Halden were.

"Oh, we were just filming… and um… Mr. Denham told me to scream, and then there was this terrible roar," Ann shakily explained. "I think it came from the island."

Jack glared at Carl, who nervously smiled and said, "We found the island, Jack."

Jack swiftly approached Carl, pulled him up close by the shirt and interrogated him, "So tell me, Denham, what do you think she's really going to see when we get to the island? Huh? What was the monster who made that roar?"

"Jack," Englehorn calmly interjected, prompting his first mate to release Carl. The captain then spoke to Carl, saying, "Mr. Denham, are you sure we should go to that island? We could go to Indonesia instead like you initially planned?"

"Are you crazy, Englehorn?!" Carl boisterously responded. "This is it! This is the hidden island I spent eight weeks searching for!"

"You know, Denham, I think Englehorn has a point," Jack interjected. "This does seem a bit more extreme than, say, our past voyages to South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Although, our ship has traveled 12,000 miles, so she needs some rest, and then"-

"And then what?! I didn't come 12,000 miles on your stinking ship to give up now!" Carl insulted Jack and Englehorn. "I'm landing on that island if it kills me!"

"Well, if that's what he wants, Jack, then I suggest we let him go," Englehorn said.

"Agreed," Jack replied.

"Mr. Denham, why don't you take your film crew and some of Englehorn's men and explore the island to find out what's there, then maybe I'll come tomorrow," Ann suggested.

"No, Ann, you're my leading lady and I want you on that island with me TO-DAY!" Carl demanded. "It's part of the deal we made, remember? You do whatever I say."

"You know what, if Miss Darrow goes to the island, then I'll go with her," Jack proposed.

"Jack, don't be a fool, don't follow Denham to his death," Englehorn implored.

"If Carl wasn't taking Ann, I'd let him go, but Ann is special to me and I feel the need to protect her," Jack told his captain. "Besides, Denham's motley crew could use an authority figure from our ship to guide him."

"I'll fill in for Jack while he's gone, captain," Briggs offered.

Englehorn sighed, placed a hand on one of Jack's broad shoulders and quietly said, "Whatever's on that island, come back alive, will ya?"

"I'll try," Jack answered.

"ANY OTHER VOLUNTEERS TO ACCOMPANY DENHAM'S CREW TO THE ISLAND?!" Englehorn shouted out.

Stu and Harold ran up in front of Englehorn and bowed, saying, "At your service, captain!"

Following them were two more sailors, Long John Callaghan and a muscular Hispanic sailor named Manny Delgado. Nigel, Penn, and Theodore were the next men to arrive, and Carl eagerly said, "Alright, Englehorn, get us a boat ready and we set sail to the island."

Within another ten minutes, Jack, Ann, Carl, Halden, Gary, Penn, Nigel, Theodore, Stu, Harold, Long John, and Manny were all sailing to shore on a large rowboat. Thus, Mr. Denham's adventure on Skull Island began. A grand adventure for him, but a sure nightmare for the rest.


	9. The Natives

On the shore of Skull Island, and through the rocky caverns, contained not only a skull-shaped entrance, but decaying human skeletons that were sure symbols of either death or life in death. There was a lingering sense of danger, stronger than the one aroused by the echoing roar that was heard from the ship. This new and stronger sense of danger haunted everyone present, everyone except Mr. Denham of course. The greedy film director had Gary stop about every five to ten seconds to film the skeletons that sat across the cave walls. Ann was accompanied by eleven men, who were all much stronger than her, but would they be strong enough to protect her from whatever dangers they were bound to face? Whatever happened to the skeletons sitting in the caverns? What would become of her and the others? What man, woman, child or beast would kill them? Would their skeletons be decorated on the cave walls with the others?

"Jack, are you sure you can't tell Mr. Denham to turn back?" Ann nervously asked Jack.

"Well, he's a stubborn old thickhead, he can't be reasoned with on this, just gotta hope we can get out of here alive," Jack silently replied to her.

"I can hear what you're saying, ANN and JACK, just FYI," Carl said, annoyed. "Come now, this is the chance of a lifetime, we're on the legendary Skull Island. Plus, you get to be in a Carl Denham picture. What else do you want?"

"I want to get our butts back to ship, that's what _I_ want," Jack firmly answered.

"You know, for once, I actually agree with Jack," Theodore commented.

"Theodore, I get it, you're an actor and you've never been faced with anything real like this before," Carl considered. Then he turned to Jack and said, "But Jack, come on, tough guy, you've been to all kinds of wild, crazy places."

"Not like this, Denham," Jack argued.

"We do live animal capture for zoos and circuses around the world, Mr. Denham, not death scene investigations," Manny added in his thick, Hispanic accent.

"Come on Manny, what about Dia de los Muertes?" Carl asked. Manny just glared at him in response, so Carl just said, "Okay, come on, let's go everybody. We'll try to find something less spooky. Follow me."

Carl continued his way through the caverns, and everyone else followed. Ann tensely clung to Jack's arm for a sense of security, and he led her along with Carl and the others. Within about thirty seconds, Carl's party was out of the caverns and making their way through rocky passage ways and bridges that connected platforms and plateaus. Eventually, there were faint sounds of primitive chanting and music in the distance.

"Did you hear that, fellas?" Carl asked. "We must be nearing a native civilization."

"Leave them be, we don't know how they are," Jack warned Carl.

"And what about those skeletons in the caverns, what if we end up like them?" Ann added.

"Jack, Ann, come on, it's not like we're going to walk up to those savages and say, 'Hey, how do you do?' I just want to see if I can get 'em on camera from a distance," Carl explained.

"And then what are you gonna make me film, Carl?" Gary nervously asked.

"Just relax, Gary," Carl answered. "We'll see what we can find as we go along."

Carl's party continued, until they reached a small promontory that was decorated with two skull-topped wooden pillars. Straight ahead was a vast stone wall with two large wooden doors. Down below were the natives, crowds of dark-skinned men, women, and children chanting, "Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong!" BOOM! On the seventh "Kong," large drums were beaten with circular-tipped sticks, and then the crowd started their seven Kong chants again. Logs and wooden stumps were tapped on for percussion to the chants, and foreign windpipe instrumentals were played in the background.

"Kong?" Gary muttered to himself. He then asked Carl, "Is that the creature you told us about last week when Mr. Driscoll came into our editing session?"

"What is this Kong creature?" Ann inquired.

"Never mind, Ann," Jack soothed.

"Look, there's a girl!" Halden exclaimed, pointing to the left.

"Halden, shush, do you want to get us killed?!" Carl hissed.

"Sorry, Carl, but look," Halden whispered.

Everyone turned to Halden's left to see four muscular native men carrying a cot. On that cot was an adolescent native girl, presumably around 17 or 18 years old. She was beautiful with long, silky black hair, black eye liner, and lush pink lips. Her sacrificial garments revealed broad cleavage, wide hips, round hind and thick thighs. Her bikini top and skirt bottom were made of black cloth. The straps of her top were connected to a black cloth neck collar that was held together by a circular instrument made of gold that had a hole in the middle. Her earrings were also made of gold, but were carved in the shape of skulls. She was a fair sight to look upon, yet she looked so despondent with eyes closed in evident grief.

"Poor young lady, she looks so miserable," Ann commented.

"Of course she's miserable, Ann, this is preparation ritual for a human sacrifice," Carl told her. "That's what I was trying to tell Halden to keep his loud mouth from giving us away."

"Sorry, Carl," Halden apologized.

Ignoring Halden, Carl told Gary, "Gary, get this on camera. Keep it centered on the girl and pan slowly as they move her by."

"Got it Carl," Gary said as he set up the camera and began filming the native sacrifice.

"You're just going to film her, Carl?" Ann asked, perplexed and offended.

"Moments like this are gold, Ann," Carl told her.

"You're unbelievable, I knew I shouldn't have followed you here!" Ann hissed. She then asked Jack, "Jack, you, Stu, Harold, Long John and Manny have rifles. Can't you shoot down the natives and save that girl."

"I'm afraid we can't do that Ann, it's the Circle of Life," Jack explained. "I don't agree with it, but I guess it's just one of their tribe rituals. Besides, we're outnumbered by far, and I'm not looking to declare a war with this"-

"HYAAHH! HERRAHHH! HAHHH!" Jack's words were interrupted as a group of the tribe's men, bodies heavily packed with muscle and faces painted in white, ambushed the entire group. They disarmed Jack and the other sailors of their rifles and Carl's film crew of their equipment. Within just ten seconds, Jack, Ann, Carl, Halden, Gary, Penn, Nigel, Theodore, Stu, Harold, Long John, and Manny were all restrained in the brawny arms of the native men and violently escorted down into the village.

"FWROOOOOOO!" A loud horn was blown by one of the white face-painted native men as he and his comrades brought Carl's part before the chief.

"Shu gon da femi!" the chief ordered those who were carrying the girl on the cot. They moved her aside as Carl's crew was violently thrown down at his feet and restrained with pointed spears. The chief then shouted another order to his son, "Faraji, po higa!"

Faraji came forward and stood on the left hand of his father. He was around 6'5 feet in height and looked more muscular than each one of the men that subdued Carl's crew. He wore no face paint, but still looked majestic with his broad build, chin beard, and long black dreadlocks. He looked very concerned for the foreigners that were brought upon his father. Faraji's father, the chief, looked more intimidating. He was old with long, graying dreadlocks and a full beard, but still looked muscular for a man his age. On his head was the upper half of what looked like the skull of some kind of dragon that had devil-like horns on its head. On his back was a long and broad cape made of black cloth. Around his waist was a long cloth, which was not actually cloth, but severed, black furry skin from an unknown, deceased mammal. A small, toothpick-like piece of wood went through the sides of his nose, and he glared at Jack, Ann, Carl, and the others through his sharp, severe gray eyes.

"Chieftain, please, we mean you no harm," Carl desperately pleaded.

"Hada, da musko shi se domi no ruco," Faraji translated to his father.

"Trog se wak se exo presa," the chief demanded his son.

"My father wants to know what you are doing here," Faraji told Carl.

"We're just making a movie here, not looking to disturb anybody," Carl replied.

"Se mu hamge ut "movie" presa, no sige nusa asemboxar," Faraji translated again.

"Movie? Se ako wi-wong intuga, bi sige luksha vira un asemboxar!" the chief snapped.

"My father does not know what a movie is, none of us know, but he thinks that you were spying on us through your wind-up instrument," Faraji said.

"Oh, that was my camera... um… when I use it, my uh… my camera… sees whatever is happening… take place… and then I can watch those moments again and again and show it to other people," Carl explained.

"Chu wi-wong intuga nimong ut 'camera,' bi oke nanduga shan trampo, chu akan oke repa shi repa shi revko broman foktar," Faraji explained to his father.

"Revko broman foktar? Wak dun?" the chief sternly inquired.

"He wants to know what you are showing it to other people for," Faraji paraphrased.

"Um, just for fun," Carl replied.

"Mu dun amukse," Faraji said to his father.

The chief scowled at Carl incredulously, and Carl stammered, "Uh-uh, chief, sir, I-I-I understand that um, uh-this is your land. Meh-meh-maybe you don't take kindly to-to foreigners, but-but um, w-w-we'll be outta here once we're done and we'll never bother you again. If-if-if there's anything we can do to-um, to-um, prove our worth. We-we-we'll do it."

"Chu shi se tsen vangar kwan se fino, repa nukshi nusa asemboxar gandalar," Faraji said, trying to reason with his father through Carl. "Repa chu shi quutun provishar mytoban se ablo exo mik vado se prog, se exo."

The chief looked at Ann, stroked his beard, and sternly said, "Asemboxar aquidan lugar, zovinde no embramke. Asemboxar ixtu zovinde ut luba; vangar, tal mor kshan Tore Kong! Kong panmo nusa bringlar. Asemboxar urrko tran chu ut sambingofan. Consiga, dit aquidan ut luba. Tran mei da yanglar-prish femi repa mei relqua dit vangar repa hamge dit movie, tal mor kshan Tore Kong, dit sholhugar! Repa asemboxar hamge bonfuiga repa arche dit posire rin qup-dungei!"

Carl's party felt tense with nerve-wracking as the noticed the angry tone toward the chief's voice. Even Faraji paused and sighed for a moment, before telling the group, "We have rules. Outsiders are not welcome. We give outsiders a choice; leave, or die by King Kong. Kong was disturbed today. We must give him a sacrifice. However, you have a choice. Give the golden-haired woman over to my father, and he will let the rest of you go to make your movie. The other option is, all of you die by King Kong, and we make a bonfire to burn all of your belongings after the twelfth person is sacrificed."

Ann felt horrified. She knew she would not be leaving the village either way. Either the chief would have his way with her, or everyone else would die with her at the hands of King Kong. There was a tragedy bound to happen, and she couldn't help but feel that she was to blame for it. What would her eleven men do? Would they give her up or become sacrifices to Kong with her? What would the chief do with her? Keep her as a bride? A slave? Replace the girl on the cot with her as a sacrifice in her stead? Her life flashed before her eyes. What if she never agreed to become Carl Denham's leading lady? What if she just found employment elsewhere? Whatever she would have done instead, she would never have landed herself in such a predicament on Skull Island. But it was too late. There was no going back and changing anything. A tragedy was bound to happen.

"Penn, we can think of a better plot line, let's surrender Ann and just go on filming the rest of the island," Carl heartlessly suggested.

"Carl?!" Ann and Penn freaked out.

"No!" Jack snapped. He bravely stood up and said to the chief, "You will NOT take Ann from us, and if you don't like it, then kill us all with your cursed Kong creature!"

Penn, Gary, Nigel, Theodore, Stu, Harold, Long John, and Manny all stood up with Jack. Carl stood up slowly, embarrassed by his previous error and desperate for even the slightest redemption of his reputation amongst his comrades. Faraji sighed in grief, knowing they would all die. The chief did not know English, but he could nevertheless tell that Jack and the others were unwilling to surrender Ann. He was enraged.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!" the chief screamed. He then commanded his men. "Fushar da yanglar-prish femi! Bokon da remdos fuei!"

Thunder roared, lightning flashed, and heavy rain fell as the natives began to subdue Ann and the others. Two of the white face-painted native men grabbed Ann by the arms and began hauling her away as she cried out, "NO! JACK!"

More white face-painted native men came out from behind the chief with small club-like weapons, baring their teeth and glaring menacingly. Jack quickly looked away from them and frantically shouted, "ANN!"

He tried to run toward her, but one of the natives charged from behind and BAM! Jack was struck over the head and fell to the floor, knocked out cold. Ann opened her mouth with breathy sobs of shock and sadness. As she was hauled away, she could only watch as Carl and the other conscious men fought back against the natives. They fought tooth and nail, punching and kicking, but to no avail as the natives overpowered and knocked each one of them out cold. Carl first, Stu second, Penn third, Gary fourth, Long John fifth, Harold sixth, Nigel seventh, Theodore eighth, and Manny ninth. Only one of them managed to escape, and that was Halden.

"YOU'LL NEVER GET ME ALIVE!" Halden screamed as three natives chased after him through the village exit.

Having mastered a black belt in taekwondo as a child, Halden was able to miraculously fight his way through the natives and make a run for the ship. The natives were fast, having naturally become physically fit from the tasks on their island, but Halden was faster, having run track and cross country during his grade school years. The natives chased Halden back through the bridges and passageways that connected the rocky plateaus and platforms from whence he came along with Denham's crew, and he would not wear out. Once back in the skull caverns, Halden grabbed and threw some skeletons back at his chasers to slow them down.

The swift film director's assistant ultimately made it to shore and paused at the large rowboat that he travelled on with the others. Thinking fast, he realized that the boat was much too big for him to row himself. With the three natives storming out of the skull cavern after him, he had no other choice but to run, fully clothed, into the water and swim all the way back to the ship. The ship stood about several miles off and it would surely be a very long swim back to the ship. Fortunately, Halden had incredible swimming skills from his time on his high school swimming team. Halden rocketed through the waters, determined to make it back to the ship alive, but the natives followed in hot pursuit with remarkable swimming skills of their own. The rain poured violently on the ocean waters as Halden and his chasers splashed their way through. If Halden could escape the hell that he had gotten himself into, could he, Englehorn and his crew be a source of salvation to the others?


	10. Rescue Mission

Several hours passed, night had fallen on the Venture, and Carl's crew had still not returned from the island. Captain Englehorn paced around nervously on deck, like a tiger in its cage, worrying that something could have gone wrong. It was not Carl he was worried about. Carl was an imbecile. Englehorn was most concerned about his first mate, Jack. He also worried about Long John and Manny, and even Stu and Harold. Englehorn never liked losing his men. Englehorn did not care much about Denham's film crew, for he viewed them as partakers of his foolishness. Theodore was just another conceited actor in the captain's eyes as well. However, Englehorn did find Ann to be a very pleasant young woman. How would he live with the guilt of bringing a lady like her to a deadly uncharted island that could potentially claim her life? How could he have been so foolish to allow Mr. Denham into manipulating him into steering his crew to Skull Island? What was wrong with Indonesia? Why couldn't Carl have filmed there instead? Who was to blame for all of this, Denham, or Englehorn himself? Either way, Englehorn just wanted Miss Darrow and his five missing men back.

Up in the crow's nest, Mr. Suzuki was still on the lookout for the return of Carl's crew. Through his binoculars, he saw Halden afar off, struggling through the waters with three of the Skull Island natives in pursuit. The eleven other people that had gone ashore with Halden were nowhere to be seen, but Mr. Suzuki cared enough to save Halden and perhaps escape Skull Island with him back safely on the ship. The watchman looked down at Englehorn from his crow's nest and screamed, "CAPTAIN! HALDEN'S OUT IN THE WATER! THE NATIVES ARE AFTER HIM! DO SOMETHING!"

"Halden out in the water?!" Englehorn shouted incredulously in response.

Mr. Suzuki dropped his binoculars so that Englehorn could catch them. Once they were in the captain's hands, he looked through them, straight ahead, and saw just what Mr. Suzuki had seen. "Great Scott. BRIGGS!"

"Yes, captain?" Briggs responded.

"Take some men, some firearms, and a lifeboat and try to get Halden out of the water!" Englehorn ordered. "Straight ahead, afar off, the natives are chasing him."

"Aye, captain!" Briggs complied. He then gave a sharp whistle and called out, "Helstrom, get me a lifeboat ready!"

"Aye, Briggs!" Helstrom agreed.

"Joe, Pierre, Peek, Perrault, Stefano, Giuseppe, each of you get a gun and meet me at the lifeboat!" Briggs ordered. Gustavo's sons, Stefano and Giuseppe, along with four other sailors present on deck, Joe, Pierre, Peek, and Perrault, all rushed to the gun storage room immediately.

Meanwhile, Halden was breathing heavily and splashing his tired limbs through the water. His three native chasers were wearing down as well, but still determined to bring him back to the village so that he may be sacrificed to Kong with the others. The ship was still several hundred feet off, but Halden's life was too precious for him to give up. He would either make it back or die trying. Halden may have been a faster swimmer, but the natives' stamina was just a tad bit higher. They were gaining on him, closer, and closer, and closer, and the first one was about to grab onto him until… BARK! CHOMP!

A massive, light brown fur seal emerged from the water and pounced down on that first native, jaws first, drowning him in the water. Halden glanced back, wheezed in fright, and weakly flailed his strained arms and legs. The other two natives turned back and tried to swim back to shore, but the second one was caught and torn limb from limb by four more fur seals, and the third one's head went all the way into the mouth of a single fur seal that dragged him down into the ocean water. Halden looked back as another fur seal emerged and swam after him.

"No, AH!" Halden weakly screamed.

He tried flailing his arms and legs to swim faster, but it was no use as he ran out of energy and sank into the waters. The hungry fur seal descended under the waters after the sinking film director's assistant, closing in on him with open jaws. Once it got close enough, the seal was about to clamp its sharp teeth on Halden's neck, until… BOOM! A bullet from Briggs' pistol ripped into the water and penetrated through the seal's head, killing it.

"Hold my gun," Briggs said, handing his pistol to Joe, a short and skinny bald sailor with a beard of grayish stubble on his face.

Briggs boldly dove into the water and darted down after Halden, successfully grabbing hold of him and pulling him back up above the water. Both men let out a deep gasp for air, and Halden coughed, once back up above the water. Before they could turn back toward the boat, the whole pack of fur seals was rapidly swimming toward them. Some of them had already had teeth and lips stained from the blood of the three natives, but they were hungry for more. The closest ones opened their ravenous jaws, but before they could go in for the kill, Joe and the other sailors on Briggs' rescue boat opened fire. Three fur seals were killed and the others fled in fear.

Briggs swam Halden back to his rescue boat, and once they were both on, Briggs asked him, "Halden, where are Jack and the others?"

"Well… we went to the island, and"- Halden breathily began.

"Doggone it, Halden, I KNOW you went to the island!" Briggs interrupted. "I want to know what happened to Jack and everyone else!"

"Oh, well Jack and the other men… were either knocked out or killed, I don't know… but they were whacked over the heads with these little baseball bat… things," Halden wheezed.

"What about Ann?" Briggs questioned.

"They just dragged her off," Halden moaned.

" _Who_ dragged her off?" Briggs inquired.

"The natives," Halden exhaustively replied. "They're gonna sacrifice her to some monster named Kong. The chief said he was gonna sacrifice all of us if we didn't give him Ann."

"Then Jack and the others are still alive, they've got to be," Briggs reasoned. "They were probably just knocked out. The natives must be holding them hostage and planning to sacrifice them next after Ann. Row us back to the ship, boys. We've got to tell Englehorn about this."

Once Captain Englehorn saw Briggs and his six men rowing Halden back to the ship, through Mr. Suzuki's binoculars, he looked up at his watchman and shouted, "MR. SUZUKI! THEY'VE GOT HIM! THE RESCUE WAS A SUCCESS! THANKS FOR THE CATCH!"

"You're welcome, captain!" Mr. Suzuki answered.

Once Briggs and his men were back on the ship with Halden, Englehorn repeated Briggs' earlier question to Halden, "Halden, where are Jack and the others?"

"The natives captured them, they're gonna sacrifice Ann to some monster named Kong," Halden replied with a slight moan. He was still tired from the long swim but gradually starting to regain his strength and energy.

"Jack and the others are being kept as prisoners, they're going to be next after Ann," Briggs added. "Captain, I don't know if we can get to Ann, but we've got to go to the island, rescue whom we can, and then get the heck out of here."

"Briggs, assemble the rest of the crew and get them ready to set sail, all hands are going ashore!" Englehorn ordered.

"Aye, captain!" Briggs complied. He then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "ALL HANDS ARE GOING ASHORE!"

Mr. Suzuki began climbing down from his crow's nest, and other sailors on Briggs' floor ran across the deck and into the gun storage room. Briggs ran up and down all the floors and into all the rooms of the ship, shouting, "ALL HANDS GOING ASHORE! ALL HANDS GOING ASHORE! ALL HANDS GOING ASHORE!"

Within a few minutes, the entire crew was armed and loaded into four lifeboats. Everyone was going ashore; even the exhausted Halden, the young Freddy, the meek and mild Gustavo, and the heavyset anchorman Helstrom. The island was a few miles off, but there was an orange glow emitting from behind the skull-shaped cavern entrance and into the night sky. The sacrifice had begun. Help was on the way, but would they make it in time? Would they make it alive?


	11. Sacrifice

Ann sat, pretzel-legged and drugged, on the same cot that the larger, adolescent native girl had sat on earlier. She wore the exact same sacrificial garments as her, only smaller to suit her slender, curvaceous frame. Four white face-painted native men held her up high at the village entrance. Crowds of native men, women, and children carried torches, anticipating for their nightmares to be suppressed by the offering of Ann.

Ten native elders stood before Ann and her carriers. They almost looked like the Grim Reaper's henchmen with top halves of large bird skulls on their heads, black hooded capes, faces painted in ice blue and white, and silver skull buckles to the robes of their black mammal skin waist cloths. In front of them, they held tall brown walking sticks that matched their heights.

The elders gave Ann a glare of death, lifted their staffs, slammed them back to the ground and then gave their first chant, "KONG!" They did it again. "KONG!" And again. "KONG!" And again. "KONG!" And again. "KONG!" And again. "KONG!" And again. "KONG!" The elders began slamming their sticks and giving their "Kong" chants faster and faster as the rest of the villagers chimed in. Soon enough, the elders were slamming their sticks, simultaneous to their Kong chants. The speeding of the chants stopped at a fix rhythm as Africa-sounding windpipe instruments were blown in the air with the loud bang of a gong on top of a village wall. Hands drummed on logs and wooden stumps provided percussion to the chants as the village elders stepped aside for Ann to be carried through the crowd.

"KONG! KONG! KONG! KONG! KONG! KONG! KONG!" the natives chanted. BANG! The large gong was struck with the African windpipes loudly blown. This was all done again and again as Ann was carried through the village. Women sang in demonic falsetto voices, and men gave thick chest-rumbling shouts. People rolled their eyes into the back of their heads while shaking their bodies and dancing in peculiar ways.

Eventually, Ann was brought before three village hags standing in front of the chief, and her cot was laid down before them. Smiling evilly, the hags let out a ghastly, witch-like scream. "YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

In a secondary, cursing dialect of her native language, the hag on Ann's left menacingly growled, "Larri yu sanno korre!" She then splashed a foul liquid on her left cheek with a small paintbrush-like instrument.

"Kweh yone, kah'weh ad-larr!" the hag on Ann's right barked, splashing the same foul liquid on her right cheek.

"Tore Kong!" the hag in the center roared, splashing the foul liquid on Ann's forehead.

The three hags stepped aside as the chief approached Ann with a brown, woven necklace that had three small skulls and several long porcupine quills. He placed it over Ann's comatose head and around her neck, smiling and speaking to her in his cursing dialect, "Kweh nore dahah ad-larr. Kong-ka."

The chief then stepped aside, lifted his staff toward the vast village gates and screamed, "HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

A large, horizontal wooden bar was pulled out from its holders on the village gates to unlock them. Atop high platforms on the side of each wooden gate door, there was a rusty wooden lever. Two strong native men pushed the levers around in circles, opening the gates. Once the gates were fully opened, Ann's carriers lifted her cot and carried her outside to a rocky cliff, about 25 feet high, with underdeveloped grass. Setting Ann's cot down behind two bulky wooden pillars, the carriers lifted her up and stood her in between the two pillars. With thick ropes, they tied Ann by the wrists to each pillar. Ann stood at the cliff before the deep dark jungles of Skull Island, drugged and tied up, as her carriers took the cot and departed back inside the village gates.

Once the doors were closed, loud baritone windpipes were melodically played into the air along with the falsetto African windpipes. The natives seemingly went into hysteria as the rhythm of their music and chants grew twice as fast. Young men and women were jumping around and dancing. People were screaming, barking, and wailing. More gongs were rhythmically banged. Behind the village wall, the natives knocked away wooden plugs and poured flaming oil that eroded its way through channels and pools that had been carved into the wall. FLASH! Fire lit up in the carved chambers of the wall, creating two backlit pagan faces behind Ann.

 _(Afar Off into the Jungle)_

A gigantic, 50-foot bipedal figure, shadowed by the night sky, saw the village walls lit from afar off as he heard the chanting and instrumentals of the natives. Another sacrifice was prepared just for him. The mysterious creature bared his teeth and gave two chest rumbling roars, "RRAAAAGHHHHRRUR! RAAGHHRUR!"

He began stomping his way through the jungle, to the village walls, ready to claim his next victim. He silently growled and grunted to himself as he moved along, occasionally knocking trees out of his way. Giant gliding lizards frantically flew out of his path, monkeys scurried into their trees, and ground possums buried themselves in their burrowing holes to avoid his wrath. Forest mammoths embraced their cowering calves with their trunks and iguanodons guarded their nests as the creature passed by. Even hunting packs of saber-tooth tigers and raptors paused tensely at the sight of the fearsome behemoth.

 _(Inside a Hut Near the Village Entrance)_

Jack, Carl, Gary, Penn, Nigel, Theodore, Stu, Harold, Long John, and Manny all sat, tightly tied together, against a tall and broad wooden post. Jack was desperately squirmed to try and free himself from the ropes so that he could potentially get to Ann, or die trying, before the natives' monster could take her. The others sat still in despair, knowing that they could not be freed.

"Ain't no use, Jack, these ropes are mighty tight, we're stuck," Stu told him.

"Poor Miss Darrow, I wish we could do something for her," Harold sighed.

"I wonder what happened to Halden, hope he's still alive," Carl said.

"Oh, so you wanted to give up Ann earlier to save your greedy fat hind, but now you care about poor Halden?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"He's my assistant, Jack! Assistants don't grow on trees!" Carl hissed.

The long straw at the hut entrance rustled as Faraji entered in, carrying a bundle of spears on his back, and the crew's film equipment and rifles under both arms. After setting the film equipment and rifles down, he took out a dagger and slowly approached the tied-up men. They remained silent and intimidated, until Long John opened his mouth and spoke.

"Lemme guess, Ann's dead and one of us is next?!" Long John contemptuously asked.

"Shhh! No, I am setting you free," Faraji whispered.

"What?" all ten men simultaneously asked.

"Setting us free?" Gary inquired.

"Shhh! Yes," Faraji assured them as he cut the ropes loose with his dagger. As all ten men stood up to stretch their backs and limbs, Faraji explained, "I learned English from a British family that got stranded here. I secretly bonded with them for five years, until my father found out. He had his men capture them, and they were all sacrificed to Kong. I want now, to help whomever I can avoid that fate. Hurry now, I must get you out of here."

"But we want to save Ann, the golden-haired woman that your father wanted from us," Jack told the native.

"It is too dangerous, and we may not get to her in time before Kong arrives," Faraji warned. "There are also severe penalties for interfering with sacrifices."

"She's the love of my life, and I say we get her back or die trying," Jack argued. "Can't you find a way to sneak us around?"

Faraji paused for a moment, and then beckoned Jack and the others, "Follow me."

After the men gathered their rifles and film equipment, Faraji led them around the village entrance and beside village walls built out of bamboo sticks. On the outside of the village was dirty ground and a forest of underdeveloped blackish trees. Faraji looked around, and then beckoned the men after him. They all crouched and crawled along the bamboo wall, desperately trying not to make any sounds. Poor Stu was very sensitive to dirt, which tickled his nose. The poor sailor tried so desperately not to sneeze, but to no avail. "Hatcheh, hatcheh, HAAAACK-CHOO!"

"Stu!" Harold hissed, for once annoyed with his friend.

"Keep going, we don't have a choice," Faraji instructed.

The men kept on crawling for a few more seconds until POW! Several native spear men burst through the bamboo wall in front of them, causing them to jump up in fear. Several dozen more of them came running out of the woods, besieging Faraji and the foreigners.

"Da'shinomei!" a heavyset, white face-painted spearman cursed, pointing at Faraji.

"No!" Faraji fearfully protested.

Faraji, Jack, and the others had no choice but to ready their weapons. As the spearmen raised their spears to kill them… PT-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T! Many of the spearmen were mowed down by machine gun fire. Sailors from the Venture had come to the aid of their missing men. The fat spearman raised his spear again and roared, but then fell dead to the ground with a bullet to the head from Briggs' pistol.

"Briggs!" Jack cried.

The second mate then approached Faraji, pointing his gun at the native, until Jack stopped him, "Briggs, no! He's an ally! He helped us escape!"

Briggs looked at Jack, perplexed, but then his gaze shifted through the torn hole in the bamboo wall as Englehorn and the rest of his crew strode through the village. The natives fled in fear as Englehorn and the sailors fired their guns at them.

"Englehorn, over here, we found them!" Briggs shouted as he led Faraji, Jack, Carl, Gary, Penn, Nigel, Theodore, Stu, Harold, Manny, Long John, and the other sailors through the hole in the bamboo wall.

"You have your men back, Englehorn, now go, hurry!" Faraji implored.

"But Faraji, you promised to lead us to Ann!" Jack protested.

"Jack, the native has a point, now let's go!" Englehorn ordered.

"No! I'm not leaving without Ann!" Jack defied his captain, racing toward the village gates.

"STOP HIM!" Englehorn screamed as he and the others chased after Jack.

 _(Outside the Village Gates)_

Ann began to recover from her drugged state as she found herself tied by the hands between two wooden pillars. Straight ahead of her was the deep, dark jungle. She glanced behind and saw that the walls were lit with fire. The scene intimidated her as she realized that the natives had placed her there as an offering to their mysterious monster, King Kong. Ann's life flashed before her eyes as she worried what would happen when the monster showed up. It was as if the Gates of Hell were opened to her. The night sky was dark and smoky with fiery orange tints from the carved, backlit wall faces, and soon the Devil would arrive and take her down into the profusely flamed abyss. Only there was a deep, dark jungle ahead of her instead of a literal Hell. The beast to whom she was offered was not the Devil, but a mysterious, unidentified monstrous creature. Whatever that thing was, it had to be the most intimidating and disturbing creature on Skull Island. After hearing its roar, in response to her loud scream from the ship, the last thing Ann wanted to see was its ugly, menacing face. Much less be brutally killed by that creature.

"ANN!" she heard Jack's voice scream out.

"JACK, HELP ME!" Ann cried out in response.

"SHE'S STILL THERE, OPEN THE GATES!" Jack ordered.

Behind the wall, several sailors removed the gate bar, and Jack and Harold turned the levers to open the doors. Once the doors were opened, Ann was exposed to the crew, tied up at the cliff. Before anyone could proceed, the entire crew was immediately silenced by a deep, unearthly roar, "MWRAAAAAAAOOOOOORR!"

Faraji's heart sank. He knew exactly where that roar came from. Many sailors stood silent and trembling. Jack raced to the open gates, but Faraji grabbed him, covered his mouth and pulled him behind an open door to protect him.

Ann's heart pounded like a child's running footsteps as she realized that the beast as near. Her whole body trembled, soaking with sweat, and she let out shaky pants of consternation. Even Ann's wavy blonde hair was soaked from sweat, looking almost as if she came out of the shower. A gigantic, burly figure, with an approximately 50-foot-tall bipedal frame, tore its way through tall trees as it approached Ann. It was King Kong. Kong arrived to take her away.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Ann let out a shrill, horrified scream as Kong stepped right in front of her with the fiery light exposing his ferocious face. His head and face were like that of a gorilla's, only much more menacing and somewhat grotesque with yellowish vampire teeth, fiery orange eyes, a blood red scar on a left bloodshot eye, and large chimp-like ears. He was not the kind of gorilla that Ann saw in zoos as a child, for he had dark brown fur and brownish gray skin instead of the typical black and silver colors of a silverback. His frame was much like that of a human bodybuilder, only with much longer and hairier arms and an ape-like chest that had three red claw marks on the left pec. This creature was undoubtedly tough, presumably hardened by the dangers of Skull Island, and had a bad temper.

Carl marveled at Kong from the center of the open gates, and then beckoned Gary, "Psst! Hey, Gary! Get over here and film this!"

The camera man reluctantly complied, trembling as he brought his camera forth. He set the tripod on its legs, and began filming Ann's terrifying moment with Kong. Internally, Gary wished he could do something to help Ann, but he knew that such a small human like him would never stand a chance against the mighty King Kong. While fulfilling his director's request, Gary recognized what a greedy slime ball he was and wished he could trade him to get Ann back, and then leave Skull Island alive with the rest of the crew.

"GRRRRRRRRRR!" The colossal ape let out tiger-like growls through his bared teeth as he examined Ann closely. Ann was helplessly panting, trembling, and sobbing in fear. She wanted to scream out for Jack, but the frightful weeping almost seemed to clog her throat. Kong sniffed her, and then lifted his head toward the sky.

"HRAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOAAAOOOAAAAWRR!" Kong beat his massive chest, letting out a ghastly roar. It was the exact same roar that Ann had heard earlier in response to her scream, and now it seemingly haunted her like Bloody Mary.

"NAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOO!" Ann wailed. She could not accept that had become prey to a giant monkey monster. She would rather have encountered 500-pound python, or perhaps even a giant tarantula, than the beastly ape titan standing right in front of her. "JACK HELP!"

Ann looked back and despaired as she saw Carl and Gary filming her. The other sailors were silent as the stars. Nobody was coming to her aid. Not even Jack. She never felt so helpless.

SNAP! Ann flinched as Kong effortlessly tore the rope on her right hand with a sharp fingernail. Ann slumped to the ground and kicked her bare feet against the left post, trying to pull out of the rope on her left hand. SNAP! Kong used another sharp fingernail to tear that rope before poor, frightened Ann could. Ann fell back and hit her head on the right post. Before she could get up and run, Kong reached and took hold of her in his massive left hand.

"NO! NAAAAAAHAAA! HELP ME!" Ann screamed as Kong lifted her to his face.

"No! No-ho! Nuh! Huh! Oh-ho-ho! No-ho! Nuh-ha! No!" Ann breathily sobbed, trapped in Kong's hand.

"HRAAAAAAAHHR!" Kong threw his head back and roared.

"NA-HA!" Ann shrieked.

"RAAA-AAARRRR!" Kong let out another roar.

Ann's fear overcame her, and she fainted in Kong's hand. The giant ape then turned his broad back to the village wall. A glimpse of two long red claw marks on his left shoulder were seen. His rear view exposed more scars; three on his left lower back, and an X-shaped scar on his right upper back. The monstrous brute clearly had a history of fighting, in addition to his titanic size and intimidating appearance, which clearly showed why he was the most feared creature on Skull Island. Before departing, Kong glanced back and glared at Carl and Gary as they continued filming him. The ape let out a snarl, then turned his head and stomped back off into the jungle, carrying the unconscious Ann Darrow in his hand.


	12. Argument for Ann

Even after Kong disappeared into the jungle with Ann, Gary could not stop winding the crank on Carl's camera due to fear and shock.

"Gary, he's gone, you can stop filming now," Carl gently told Gary, but the traumatized camera man would not stop filming.

"Gary. Gary?" Carl said very firmly.

"GARY!" Carl snapped, stomping a foot.

"WAAH!" Gary screamed, flinching and falling backward with the camera.

"Doggone it, Gary, what are you trying to do, break my camera?!" Carl yelled.

"Leave the poor man alone, Denham!" Jack rebuked him, having been let go by Faraji. With concern, Jack then asked Gary, "Gary, are you okay?"

"I saw… I saw… I saw… Kong," Gary gasped. The camera man then rolled his eyes back into his head and fainted.

"Get him back to the ship," Englehorn ordered. A group of sailors lifted Carl's camera off Gary's unconscious body, lifted the man himself and carried him off to the ship.

"Guys, come on, he's my camera man, I need him!" Carl protested.

Jack glared at Carl and interrogated him, "For the love of Pete, Carl, what on Earth was that thing?!"

"It was Kong," Faraji interjected.

"Doggone it, Faraji, I KNOW it was Kong!" Jack snapped.

"Jack, calm down," Englehorn soothed.

"Calm down? When the only woman on our ship… the LOVE of my LIFE… WAS JUST TAKEN OFF INTO THE JUNGLE BY A FRICKIN' MUTANT?!" Jack screamed.

"Jack, there was nothing you could have done for her, Kong is too strong," Faraji said.

"YOU MORON, I COULD HAVE SAVED HER BEFORE KONG CAME, BUT YOU HELD ME BACK!" Jack exploded.

"I was trying to protect you!" Faraji argued.

"I'VE RISKED MY LIFE BEFORE, I DON'T NEED YOU TO BE MY HERO!" Jack insulted the native.

"YOU FOOL, YOU WOULD HAVE DIED!" Faraji screamed.

"Yeah, and then _you_ would have been a _tragic_ hero," Nigel added.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT KONG, JACK, YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS ISLAND!" Faraji continued. "WHY DID YOU COME TO THIS ISLAND!? OF ALL THE PLACES THAT YOU COULD HAVE GONE, YOU COME TO A PLACE OF DEATH!"

"It was DENHAM'S FAULT! DIDN'T HE FRICKIN' TELL YOU?! ALL HE CARES ABOUT IS A DOGGONE BLOODY FILM!" Jack burst out. He then turned and glared at Carl, who removed his hand from the camera crank after filming entire altercation. "AND WOULD YOU PUT THAT STUPID CAMERA AWAY!"

Carl backed away from his camera as Jack approached him, knocked the camera down, pulled him up close by the shirt and interrogated him, "Now tell me before I beat the living crap out of you, what on EARTH was this KONG thing?! And what was so special about him that you had to film? Even at the risk of your own camera man, huh?"

"He was a giant ape, Jack, a HUGE, MONSTROUS gorilla, I told ya, monsters belong in THE movies, ha, ha," Carl nervously laughed.

SMACK! Jack punched Carl across the face and sent him sprawling to the ground. The angry first mate approached the fallen film director with another fist raised, but Englehorn stopped him, saying, "THAT'S ENOUGH, JACK! Listen, Ann's dead. If we stay here any longer, we'll end up dead too. We're going back to the ship, come on, everyone, let's go."

"No!" Jack protested. "That ape only JUST took Ann. I didn't even hear any sounds of her bones cracking. He COULDN'T have killed her yet."

"Jack, where are you going with this?" Briggs nervously asked.

"I say we should 'GO' and RESCUE her!" Jack insisted.

"You're mad, Jack, that ape would kill us all!" Englehorn argued.

"A silverback gorilla's got the strength of ten to twenty men, so just imagine what Kong could do," Helstrom commented.

"I don't care about silverback gorillas, and I'm not afraid of Kong!" Jack argued. "Captain Englehorn, don't you remember what happened to Carnahan in Kenya? Your first mate before me? You thought Carnahan was dead when he got separated during our mission to capture lions for Barnum & Bailey. On our last day in Kenya, he was running from a rhino to get back to our camp, and then the darn thing caught up and killed him. His death could have been avoided if we went out and looked for him."

"The rhino slashed him in the back with his horn, Jack, Carnahan died AFTER I shot the rhino," Englehorn corrected him.

"Carnahan still died, captain, doesn't make a difference," Jack reminded him. "And I want to get Ann back before she dies too."

As Englehorn paused and thought for a moment, Faraji interjected, "Alright, Jack, I will take you to look for Ann. But if we find any evidence that she is dead, which she probably will be, we will come right back."

"I can do with that," Jack replied.

"Count me in," Stu volunteered.

"And me," Harold added.

"I guess I'll come along," Briggs proposed.

"I say we approach this matter with cautious optimism, Jack, but I'd say I'll come along too," Long John told him.

"Greater love hath no one than this, that a man lay his life down for his friends," Manny recited. "I am willing to lay my life down to help mine."

"I helped rescue Halden earlier, so I guess I'll help with this," Joe said.

Nine other sailors volunteered. Perrault, a muscular man with short brown hair and a goatee. Peek, a lean man with a black mullet and glasses. Pierre, an athletic young man with a crew cut. Russell, a bald British man. Thomas, a husky African-American man. Meeko, a man of Native American descent. Gomez, a slender, Hispanic young man with an underdeveloped beard. Hobbs, a tall, baldheaded older man with circular glasses. And finally, Chuck, a heavyset man with slicked back black hair. No one else volunteered after him.

"That settles it Jack, you've got the native and fifteen others," Englehorn declared.

"I'm coming along, too," Carl announced, holding his camera.

"I'm staying behind," Theodore frantically declared.

"Theodore, come on, you're my leading man, I NEED you," Carl pleaded.

"Sorry, Mr. Denham, if there's a giant monkey monster living behind that wall, I don't want to know what else is there," Theodore argued.

"Leave him be, Denham, we don't need him," Jack told Carl. "Not that you really care much about the personal safety of your actors anyway."

"I'm staying behind, too," Nigel decided.

"Right behind you, Nigel," Penn said. "I like the jungles of the Bengal and Congo, but giant ape territory is where I DRAW the line."

"Come on, boys!" Carl complained.

"I'll go with ya, Carl," Halden offered.

"You know, at least I've got my assistant, better than nothing," Carl responded.

"Listen Carl, we're rescuing Ann, not making a movie," Jack sternly told him.

"Jack, he's a headstrong film director, you're not going to win," Englehorn commented.

Jack glared at Carl, and warned him, "If you slow us down"-

"I won't slow ya down, I promise, now let's go save your girl," Carl interrupted.

"Alright men, let's go!" Jack ordered.

"Jack," Gustavo stopped him, placing a chubby hand on his shoulder. "Before you go, I must-a tell you that I am staying behind because the Venture crew needs a-my meals, so I cannot afford to die. If that were not the case, I would-a go with you in a heartbeat. I hope you understand. I loved Miss-a Darrow when she was a little girl, and I hope you can bring her back alive."

"Thank you, Gustavo," Jack smiled.

"And we are-a staying here with our father, Giuseppe and I," Gustavo's husky elder son, Stefano, told Englehorn's first mate.

"He is the only immediate family we have-a left after our mother died, and we don't-a want to be separated," Gustavo's lean younger son, Giuseppe, added.

Gustavo locked Jack in a tight embrace, weeping. Jack himself wanted to cry at that moment, but he didn't want his crew to see it as a sign of weakness. Once Gustavo released him, he wiped away tears and said, "In bucca al lupo. It means-a good luck in Italian."

Freddy also appeared behind Gustavo and told Jack, "I knew right from the start that we weren't going to Indonesia, and I knew somethin' bad like this would happen. I would come with you Jack, cause I love and respect Miss Darrow, but Englehorn won't let me. I'm just a year under age for stuff like this. Hope you find her."

"Hurry now, there is no time to lose!" Faraji enjoined.

"Alright fellas, let's go!" Jack ordered. He and Faraji led their sixteen men out of the village gates. As Jack departed, he called back to Englehorn, "Englehorn, do us a favor, guard the gate while we're gone and keep it open! Don't let the natives close it!"

"Sure thing Jack!" the captain answered. He then gave an order to his watchman, "Mr. Suzuki, keep a vigil atop the wall! If anyone comes back, let us know immediately!"

"Aye, captain!" Mr. Suzuki complied. The Japanese watchman found a stony stairway that led to the top of the wall and climbed his way up. Once at the top, he looked down and watched as Jack, Faraji, and their men carefully made their way down the 25-foot cliff and into the jungle where Kong took Ann. This marking the beginning of a tragic adventure.


	13. Into the Jungle

"ANN! MISS DARROW! WHERE ARE YOU!" the voices of Jack, Faraji and the other men called out, hoping to find her alive.

They were all running through the bushes and trees of the jungle, striving to get to Ann as quickly as possible before Kong could kill her. The only question to be answered was how would they kill Kong? How would they take down such a formidable threat as a giant ape?

"WOAH!" Carl cried out as he fell face down into a shallow hole. Everyone stopped upon hearing Carl. The short-tempered film director then cursed, "GAH, CRAP!"

"Oh my word, Carl, are you okay?" Halden asked, running over to his film director.

"Am I okay? What do you MEAN am I okay, Halden?! I just fell in a dirty, doggone hole!" Carl snapped, standing up and wiping dirt off his clothes. His camera and tripod had been strapped to his back as he fell. Had those been broken during his fall, he would have been even madder.

As Jack, Faraji, and the others approached Carl's hole, Jack remarked, "Wait a minute, that's not a hole, that's a footprint."

As Carl got out of his hole, he looked to see that indeed it was not a hole, but a gigantic footprint. Vast, long and wide with four front toes and a thumb-like side toe. This footprint was none other than that of the mighty King Kong.

"Great Scott, this is Kong's footprint," Carl remarked. He then set up his camera, saying, "Would ya look at the size of that thing? I've got to get this on film."

"Blimey, this thing's as big as a house!" Russell commented as Carl filmed.

"Oh, he's bigger than a house, Russell, Denham said he was fifty feet tall, so he's got to take up the mass of five bull elephants," Jack told him.

"And Kong is incredibly strong too, strong enough to break the jaws of a full-grown Vastatosaurus Rex," Faraji shared.

"Vastatosaurus Rex?" Briggs inquired.

"Must be some kind of evolved Tyrannosaur or something," Perrault suggested.

"Vastatosaurus Rex… monsters… interesting," Carl murmured to himself.

"Fellas, why don't we just focus on getting Ann back from Kong first and worry about Vastatosaurus Rexes later, come on, let's go," Jack enjoined.

"Perfect timing Jack, I just finished filming," Carl commented, strapping his camera and tripod back onto his back.

"We'll have to proceed with caution from here on out," Jack said. He then gave an order to Faraji, "Faraji, lead the way. You're a native, you know this jungle better than any of us."

Faraji nodded, walking in front of Jack and leading him and the other men through the bushes and trees of the jungle. They walked, proceeding with caution as Jack enjoined, staying alert for any more footprints or possibly any creatures like Kong. STOMP! STOMP! Bush rustling footprints were heard from afar, stopping the men in their tracks. Monkeys scurried their way and up into the trees. They were clearly running from something.

"Kong's coming, I think," Chuck nervously whispered.

"No, it is not Kong," Faraji corrected him.

"HEEEEEEEUHHHH!" a gigantic, 30-foot tall dinosaur came barreling out of the jungle trees, roaring in anger. This creature looked much like a Stegosaurus, only larger in size with blackish armored hide, rock-like scales stacked like dominos on its back, thick hooked spikes around the scales on its back, and a much longer and thicker tail with a round club at the end.

"Shoot it!" Jack ordered.

"No, don't!" Faraji cried.

The monkeys screamed and hooted in panic as the crew opened fire on the dinosaur, provoking it even more. The beast charged, firmly grabbed Chuck in its jaws and then tossed him to the side, killing him. It then turned and swung its tail to try and swipe several more sailors, but they ducked. The dinosaur quickly lifted its tail in the air behind him and smashed Russell into the ground with the club end, killing him instantly as other sailors dodged. They ran around the mutant dinosaur and shot him at different angles, but with seemingly no effect as it continued trying to stomp them with its feet and swipe at them with its tail. Joe bravely went in to try and shoot at the dinosaur's throat, but it rolled him onto the ground with its front paws, and then stomped him over to death with its elephant-like hind legs.

The dinosaur's next intended victim was Carl, who was filming the whole scene at a tree nearby. Carl stopped filming in fear as it slowly approached him and stood on its hind legs with a roar. The film director would have been dead, had not Faraji weaved right in front of him and SCHLAK! Faraji threw a spear at the beast's heart, which had been exposed by its soft underbelly.

"UHWOANHHH!" the dinosaur let out a dying roar before falling back and collapsing sideways to the ground. The monkeys finally fell silent, but remained tense in their trees.

"What on Earth was that thing?" Perrault inquired.

"And how did it die from a spear and not the bullets?" Pierre added.

"That was the Arminosaurus, one of the most powerful creatures on Skull Island, and very territorial," Faraji replied. "Its outer hide cannot be penetrated by man's weapons, but it has a soft underbelly. The only way to kill it instantly is to shoot at the heart."

"Fascinating," Briggs remarked.

"Oh, I wish I could take one of these things and bring it back to New York City," Carl said.

"Ya know, it _would_ be kind of cool to see it in a zoo or something," Halden added.

"This thing doesn't seem to be built for zoos," Jack warned them.

"I thought these things were supposed to be extinct," Thomas commented.

"Well, they are now," Jack said.

"Oh no, there are more of them out here," Faraji corrected him.

"What kind of a place is this?" Briggs asked.

"I have asked myself the same thing, my friend," Faraji replied. "Let us move on."

Faraji led Jack and the surviving men on through the jungle. The Arminosaurus was only the first monster they faced. Surely there would be more before Kong.


	14. Kong's Killing Ground

_(Deeper in the Jungle with Ann and Kong)_

Ann Darrow had just awoken from her frenzied unconsciousness, only to find herself trapped in the bulky hand of Kong. It was no dream. Ann had been offered to Kong, the ferocious and feared king of Skull Island. Ann trembled, frantically panting and whimpering as Kong stomped through the dark jungle with her, grunting, growling and knocking down trees as he moved. Where was Kong taking her? What was he going to do with her?

"KRUNGHRAH!" Kong let out a lion/tiger-esque roar as he stepped onto a rocky platform. On that platform was a collection of dismembered, decaying human bones and a dark cave behind. Ann sobbed in fear as she realized where she was. Kong's killing ground.

"RRRRRRRRR!" Kong lifted the poor, frightened Ann to his face and growled at her menacingly, baring his yellowish teeth and glaring at her through his fiery orange eyes.

"AH!" Ann tearfully yelped, intimidated by Kong.

"RAAAAHHR!" Kong roared. Holding Ann in his left hand, he began punching it into the palm of his right hand with snarling and roaring. The helpless blonde lady could only shriek and wail as Kong roughly manhandled her.

" _Pha_ -ROAR!" Kong let out another angry sound, like an aggressive gasp evolving into a roar as he switched Ann to his right hand and set the knuckles of his left hand to the ground. He violently jerked his head away from her, grunting and roaring, as he swung her in an up and down/back and forth motion. Ann involuntarily cried out with every jolt.

"HAWRH!" Kong let out an almost hawkish-sounding, low-pitched roar, riled up even more. The giant ape began uncontrollably hooting and mindlessly flailing Ann around in his hand in many different directions.

Soon enough, Ann was hanging upside down in Kong's hand, where she could see the remains of his previous victims more closely. Around each skull was the same sacrificial necklace that Ann herself was wearing. Ann could hear nightmarish, echoing screams of fear and agony as Kong swung her over the skulls.

"No. No! NO!" Ann shrieked.

It was as if the spirits of Kong's previous sacrifices were trapped in those scattered bones, endlessly feeling the same pain they felt from being killed. Ann was horrified at the thought of becoming a part of the Hell that Kong had put them in. There had to be some way she could escape, but how? Ann thought fast as her sacrificial necklace slipped over her upside-down head. With swift reflexes, she caught the necklace before it could hit the bone scattered, rocky ground.

"HAAAAHRRUR!" Kong loudly roared, standing upright and bringing Ann back up to his ugly, menacing face. He opened his mouth, letting out a relatively high-pitched roar as he brought Ann in for the kill.

Before Ann could go even one inch into Kong's mouth… SCHLAK! She stabbed his hand with the sharp end of her sacrificial necklace, forcing him to scream out and drop her. Ann landed on Kong's foot, hastily rolled off and ran as he examined his hand with shock.

"ANN!" Jack's voice cried out.

"MISS DARROW!" Faraji's voice echoed.

The sounds of Ann's search party calling out her name alarmed Kong. He looked over at Ann, who was sobbing in panic as she ran off through the jungle trees, desperate to find her men. Acting on impulse, Kong chased after Ann on all fours, tore through some trees, snatched her back up in his left hand, and ran further off into the jungle. Kong sped his way through, running at over forty miles an hour and violently smashing down whatever trees stood in his way. All Ann could do was scream for her life as the monstrous simian swiftly carried her off. Kong's frenzied rampage and Ann's screaming frightened many mammals, birds, and dinosaurs in the jungle as they ran, flew, hid, and trembled in their hiding spots.

 _(Later that night at Kong's killing ground)_

"Holy mother, it's a bleeding boneyard!" Stu remarked.

"Is this… is this…" Pierre stammered, looking at the scattered bones.

"Kong's killing ground," Faraji solemnly answered.

"Killing ground? No! It can't be! Ann can't be dead!" Jack protested.

"This _is_ Kong's killing ground," Faraji told him.

"I know it's hard Jack, but we've gotta trust the native," Briggs added. "Besides, this is _his_ island after all. We've never been here before."

"Well if Ann were dead, her corpse would have to be bleeding somewhere around here," Jack argued. He then gave an order, "Look around, men! If we find Ann's corpse, we leave the island! If we don't, we keep going!"

As the men began walking along the scattered bones, in search of Ann's corpse, Carl set up his camera and began filming, until Jack clapped a hand on his shoulder and demanded, "That means you too, Denham! Get moving!"

Carl immediately stopped filming and helped the other man search for Ann's corpse. Many of the man dug their hands in the bones, hoping to find Ann. Thomas was the first to give feedback, "Jack, we can't find Ann's body anywhere."

"Er, maybe the ape ate all his victims here and threw up the bones," Harold suggested.

"No, Harold, I heard Ann screaming about twenty-thirty minutes before we got here, it would take a lot longer for the ape to digest the meat on her bones," Jack firmly objected.

"Why, Jack, there's a cave right there," Halden told him, pointing to the dark cavern behind Kong's killing ground. "Maybe there's more bones in there. Who knows, maybe Kong brutally mauled her and left her to die in there."

"Well, gee, that's a lovely thought," Briggs sarcastically commented.

"Halden, do not go in there!" Faraji tried to warn him.

"Lemme just test and see if it's safe, then maybe we can light a torch and search in there," Halden nonchalantly replied. He then approached the cave entrance, cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, "HELLO?!"

All the men fell tense and silent for a few seconds as Halden's voice echoed into the cave. Then suddenly, Halden cried out in shock and tumbled backward as a disturbed swarm of bats came flying out of the cave.

"GET DOWN! TAKE COVER!" Jack shouted as he and the other men hit the ground to avoid the frenzied bats. Fortunately, none of them attacked as they flew off into the jungle.

"Jeez, Halden, you couldn't have just listened to the native?!" Carl snapped.

As Halden got up, he found there was a sacrificial necklace lying under him. He picked it up in a large hand and noticed there was a lock of loose blonde hair on it. He then said, "Uh-oh, I think this is Miss Darrow."

All the men stared in silence for a few seconds. Jack whispered in denial, "No. No. It can't be. I don't understand."

"Give me the necklace," Faraji enjoined, holding out a hand.

Halden handed Faraji Ann's sacrificial necklace, and the native examined it. He noticed blood on the tip of the necklace's sharp end, then took off Ann's loose lock of blonde hair. He tossed the blonde hair up as soft night winds rushed in and blew up a nearby trail of broken trees. Faraji knew what the evidence confirmed.

"Ann is alive," Faraji announced as Jack and several other men sighed in relief. He then beckoned Jack, "Jack, come here."

Jack approached Faraji, and he showed him the bloodied point of the sacrificial necklace's sharp end. "Ann stabbed Kong's hand to escape."

Faraji then led Jack down a trail where Ann ran, until Kong picked her up. "Ann tried to run away. Kong must have heard our cries. Loud human noise disturbs him. He chased after Ann and took her back up the trail."

Faraji led Jack back up to the killing ground and pointed to the nearby trail of broken trees where Ann's loose hair blew. "He took her further off into the jungle."

"Well, what are we waiting for, fellas?" Jack enjoined.

"Jack, shouldn't we find a place to camp for the night?" Peek asked.

"My feet are killing me!" Gomez complained.

"Come on, boys, we've already lose too much ground, let's go!" Jack demanded.

"Jack," Faraji calmly interjected, laying a hand on his shoulder. "It is night time. Our journey will be very difficult tomorrow if you do not give your men the night to rest."

"But Faraji"- Jack protested.

"Kong will not kill Ann," Faraji assured him. "From what I have gathered here, Ann is not like Kong's previous sacrifices."

"How so?" Jack inquired.

"I do not know," Faraji answered. "But I have a strange feeling we may come into bitter conflict with Kong as we try to save Ann."

"Well, if that's what it takes, then so be it," Jack declared, undaunted. "I'm not leaving her in the hands of that doggone dirty ape."

"Hey, are we finding a place to rest or what?" Carl interjected. "There's more I want to film and even _I'm_ tired."

"Follow me, men!" Faraji beckoned the others, leading them into the jungle.

 _(Moments later, in an open jungle area)_

Faraji had found Jack and the others a large, circular area with tan dirt ground surrounded by trees. The men had sat there for about an hour as Faraji lit tall sticks of wood and vertically planted them into the ground around them. Faraji was sweating, and wiped his brow with fatigue after planting the last torch into the ground.

"What are the torches for, Faraji?" Harold asked.

"To keep us safe from predators, they are afraid of fire," Faraji explained.

"Well what about that little critter?" Stu asked, pointing to a dark green, rabbit-sized dinosaur that looked much like a rhinoceros beetle. This creature only lacked insect wings and had a long tail and scaly hide like his saurian cousins.

"Kill it!" Gomez cried, pointing his rifle at the creature, causing it to tremble.

"No, don't, he is harmless!" Faraji stopped him, holding a hand out. He then approached the creature, crouched down, and extended his hands, allowing him to crawl in. Faraji looked around, carried the little dinosaur outside of the torch-lit circle and gently placed him in a bush with several others of his kind.

"Are you sure the torches are gonna work, Faraji?" Meeko asked, once Faraji stepped back inside of the torch-lit circle.

"And what on Earth was that creature?!" Gomez inquired.

"That, my friend, was a Beetlesaur," Faraji replied. "He was looking for his herd. He just lost his way. That is an unfortunate tendency among his kind."

"Gee, I wish I could keep one of those as a pet," Halden said.

"No, Halden, they belong with their kind," Meeko told him.

"Yeah, don't let Denham's suggestion about the Arminosaurus rub off on ya," Briggs jokingly warned Halden, half-serious.

Carl shook his head in annoyance, and then asked Faraji, "Hey, Faraji, why does Kong eat humans? I thought apes were herbivores."

"Kong does not eat humans," Faraji responded. "Although his predecessor did."

"Predecessor?" Jack asked.

"Before Kong, we sacrificed members of our kin to the queen of the Death Runners, Gaw," Faraji explained. "The Death Runners are a race of red raptors that hunt in packs, run swiftly, and prey on any creature that crosses their path. Every few generations, a much larger queen arises. Gaw was the last queen. Three generations ago, Kong fought her, while she was about to take her last sacrifice, and killed her."

"What happened then?" Carl inquired.

"Kong took the sacrifice for himself," Faraji answered.

"Why?" Halden asked.

"Kong hated Gaw, so he has hated mankind for decades because they reminded him of Gaw," Faraji replied. "So we have given him sacrifices every month to appease his wrath, and he brutally killed whomever he received."

"Why did Kong hate Gaw so much?" Jack questioned.

"There used to be animosity between his kind and the Death Runners, but strangely, I feel there is something much deeper than that," Faraji answered. "No other creature would have had the audacity to challenge Gaw, not even the Vastatosaurus Rex."

"So there's more to Kong than meets the eye," Carl remarked. "Interesting. Say, if he gets attached to Ann while he has her, it would make one swell Beauty and the Beast reboot. Wish Penn were here so I could share this idea with him."

"Oh, you've got some crazy ideas indeed, Denham," Jack said sarcastically. "Now why don't we just get some shut-eye and focus on finding Ann tomorrow."

On that note, all the men laid down on the ground, closing their eyes in sleep. No more creatures entered their circle as they slept. However, no one knew what the next day would bring.


	15. Death Runners

Ann woke up in the next morning inside a rocky tunnel, having slipped to the floor from Kong's open hand. The big ape had worn himself out from running and decided to put off killing Ann until morning. Ann had fallen asleep in his hand, expecting that she would die in her sleep. Much to her surprise, she found herself still alive. Kong was still fast asleep with low-pitched snoring, and Ann seized upon the opportunity to quietly escape. She cautiously and quietly stepped away from Kong's hand, cringing at his short, yet sharp, fingernails. Once she was sure that he would not wake up, Ann tiptoed toward the bright tunnel exit. Ann let out a sigh of relief once she got out, but where would she go next? Where were Jack and the others?

Ann decided to go back around the outside of the tunnel and see if she could find her way to them. She moved to her right and walked through jungle trees. Not another creature in sight, until… FWSH! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!

Something was after Ann. It wasn't Kong, but something smaller and relatively stealthy. She picked up a stick and firmly held it, ready to defend herself from whatever was about to attack. She tensely walked through the jungle as the rustling sounds continued.

"RAH!" a white-feathered red raptor, approximately half the size of a human, pounced at Ann from behind.

"AAH!" Ann yelped, whirling around and smacking the beast away with her stick.

Ann whirled away, only to see another one in front of her. Seeing it up close, face to face, was intimidating for Ann. The dinosaur had a short horn on its snout, golden orange snake-like eyes, a mane of feathers along its head, neck, and upper back, and feathers on its elbows and the tip of the tail. The dinosaur readied itself to pounce, licking its sharp teeth.

"EEAAAAHHH!" Ann shrieked, batting the dinosaur away with her stick.

Ann fled on into the jungle, desperate to escape. Her athletic legs carried her at a very swift pace, but the raptors were faster as more of them chased after her. Some of them followed behind, and some of them Ann saw running beside her at a distance. There was a whole pack of them. A whole pack of Death Runners. One of them tried to get up close on her right and bite her, but she swatted it away. Another one attempted the same attack on Ann's left, but she struck it away as well. Ann kept running, running, and running, until… SPLAT!

Ann tripped and fell into a large puddle of mud. How humiliating. She rolled over onto her backside as the Death Runners surrounded and closed in on her. It was the end. Or was it?

"HRRROOOOAAR!" a loud roar came from none other than Kong. The mighty ape knocked a large tree down, causing it crush several Death Runners underneath. The fallen tree revealed Kong's angry face as he beat his chest and let out another roar, "HCHRAAAAOORR!"

All the Death Runners roared, charged at the titanic primate and pounced all over him. Ann felt too paranoid to get up out of the mud, but she could only watch in amazement as the monster who kidnapped her fought to save her life. Or perhaps so that he could take it for himself as he had attempted the previous night?

Kong gnashed his teeth and roared, violently dancing around as he swatted and grabbed at the Death Runners attacking him. Some of them were grabbed and bitten to death in his strong jaws. Others were either thrown, knocked off, or smashed into the ground. Within about a minute, the entire pack was dead.

"ERUGHAAAAHHRRRR!" Kong beat his chest, letting out a tiger-esque roar. He then glared at Ann and grunted, "MRUGH!"

Ann's heart pounded, and she trembled and panted in fear as Kong picked her up out of the mud. Before Ann could scream, Kong gave a disgusted expression at the filthy mud on her body and grunted, "UAHR!"

Even Kong was disgusted with Ann. Ann could not blame him. She thought that Kong wanted to eat her, and surely, he would not eat his meals covered in mud. She was hoping that the gorilla monster would just put her down and walk away, grossed out, but he didn't. He kept hold of her in his hand, mud and all, and wandered off. It seemed that he knew a place where Ann could wash off. Whatever Kong's intentions were, Ann felt relieved that he was not going to kill her. Not yet at least. She could only hope that things were about to change for the better.


End file.
